GHSA-5RJG-FVGR-3XXF

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2025-05-19 16:52 – Updated: 2025-06-13 04:13
VLAI
Summary
setuptools has a path traversal vulnerability in PackageIndex.download that leads to Arbitrary File Write
Details

Summary

A path traversal vulnerability in PackageIndex was fixed in setuptools version 78.1.1

Details

    def _download_url(self, url, tmpdir):
        # Determine download filename
        #
        name, _fragment = egg_info_for_url(url)
        if name:
            while '..' in name:
                name = name.replace('..', '.').replace('\\', '_')
        else:
            name = "__downloaded__"  # default if URL has no path contents

        if name.endswith('.[egg.zip](http://egg.zip/)'):
            name = name[:-4]  # strip the extra .zip before download

 -->       filename = os.path.join(tmpdir, name)

Here: https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/blob/6ead555c5fb29bc57fe6105b1bffc163f56fd558/setuptools/package_index.py#L810C1-L825C88

os.path.join() discards the first argument tmpdir if the second begins with a slash or drive letter. name is derived from a URL without sufficient sanitization. While there is some attempt to sanitize by replacing instances of '..' with '.', it is insufficient.

Risk Assessment

As easy_install and package_index are deprecated, the exploitation surface is reduced. However, it seems this could be exploited in a similar fashion like https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r9hx-vwmv-q579, and as described by POC 4 in https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cx63-2mw6-8hw5 report: via malicious URLs present on the pages of a package index.

Impact

An attacker would be allowed to write files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem with the permissions of the process running the Python code, which could escalate to RCE depending on the context.

References

https://huntr.com/bounties/d6362117-ad57-4e83-951f-b8141c6e7ca5 https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/4946

Severity
7.7 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P
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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "PyPI",
        "name": "setuptools"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "78.1.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2025-47273"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-22"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2025-05-19T16:52:43Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2025-05-17T16:15:19Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "### Summary \nA path traversal vulnerability in `PackageIndex` was fixed in setuptools version 78.1.1\n\n### Details\n```\n    def _download_url(self, url, tmpdir):\n        # Determine download filename\n        #\n        name, _fragment = egg_info_for_url(url)\n        if name:\n            while \u0027..\u0027 in name:\n                name = name.replace(\u0027..\u0027, \u0027.\u0027).replace(\u0027\\\\\u0027, \u0027_\u0027)\n        else:\n            name = \"__downloaded__\"  # default if URL has no path contents\n\n        if name.endswith(\u0027.[egg.zip](http://egg.zip/)\u0027):\n            name = name[:-4]  # strip the extra .zip before download\n\n --\u003e       filename = os.path.join(tmpdir, name)\n```\n\nHere: https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/blob/6ead555c5fb29bc57fe6105b1bffc163f56fd558/setuptools/package_index.py#L810C1-L825C88\n\n`os.path.join()` discards the first argument `tmpdir` if the second begins with a slash or drive letter.\n`name` is derived from a URL without sufficient sanitization. While there is some attempt to sanitize by replacing instances of \u0027..\u0027 with \u0027.\u0027, it is insufficient.\n\n### Risk Assessment\nAs easy_install and package_index are deprecated, the exploitation surface is reduced.\nHowever, it seems this could be exploited in a similar fashion like https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-r9hx-vwmv-q579, and as described by POC 4 in https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cx63-2mw6-8hw5 report: via malicious URLs present on the pages of a package index.\n\n### Impact\nAn attacker would be allowed to write files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem with the permissions of the process running the Python code, which could escalate to RCE depending on the context.\n\n### References\nhttps://huntr.com/bounties/d6362117-ad57-4e83-951f-b8141c6e7ca5\nhttps://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/4946",
  "id": "GHSA-5rjg-fvgr-3xxf",
  "modified": "2025-06-13T04:13:22Z",
  "published": "2025-05-19T16:52:43Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/security/advisories/GHSA-5rjg-fvgr-3xxf"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-47273"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/issues/4946"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/commit/250a6d17978f9f6ac3ac887091f2d32886fbbb0b"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/setuptools/PYSEC-2025-49.yaml"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/setuptools"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/pypa/setuptools/blob/6ead555c5fb29bc57fe6105b1bffc163f56fd558/setuptools/package_index.py#L810C1-L825C88"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00035.html"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "setuptools has a path traversal vulnerability in PackageIndex.download that leads to Arbitrary File Write"
}


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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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