CVE-2026-112915 — filelock ReadWriteLock: a crafted lock database makes every acquire stall or hang regardless of timeout

Affected: tox-dev filelock

filelock is a platform-independent file lock for Python. From 3.20.4 until 4.2.1, ReadWriteLock can open a crafted SQLite lock database without bounding schema and query work, allowing another local user who can replace the database to make acquisition stall or hang; versions from 3.20.4 expose this on initial per-instance opening, and versions from 3.30.0 repeat the exposure on every acquisition. This issue is fixed in version 4.2.1.

GHSA-cwqr-hh33-gh44 — filelock ReadWriteLock: a crafted lock database makes every acquire stall or hang regardless of timeout

Affected: PyPI: filelock

`ReadWriteLock` and `AsyncReadWriteLock` (the SQLite-backed reader/writer lock) run `PRAGMA journal_mode=MEMORY` on a fresh connection for every acquire. That statement makes SQLite load the whole schema (the `sqlite_master` table, which lists every table and index with its `CREATE` text) of whatever file sits at the lock path. The caller's `timeout` reaches SQLite only as `busy_timeout`, which bounds waits for another connection's lock, not schema loading. The only content checks reject non-regular files and WAL mode (write-ahead log, an SQLite mode that keeps changes in a side file). A local user who can place or overwrite the file at a `ReadWriteLock`'s database path can therefore make every `acquire_read` / `acquire_write` of every process using that lock ignore its `timeout` and `blocking=False`. That position needs a non-sticky shared directory, or a database owned by the user running the lock (below: the lock user) that other users may write.

One 37 KB crafted file stalls each acquire for as long as its author chooses while the process allocates about 1 GB. A second 28 KB layout makes the acquire of a free lock run without end, spinning at 100% CPU and ignoring Ctrl-C. The effect is availability only: the other user reads nothing and corrupts nothing. Affected versions are filelock 3.20.4 through 4.2.0.

Anthropic's OSS Scanner reported this in private as `ANT-2026-NFPRHMYJ` [medium, CWE-400]: ReadWriteLock: crafted lock database hangs acquire regardless of timeout.…

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CVE-2026-112915 — filelock ReadWriteLock: a crafted lock database makes every acquire stall or hang regardless of timeout

GHSA-cwqr-hh33-gh44 — filelock ReadWriteLock: a crafted lock database makes every acquire stall or hang regardless of timeout