CVE-2019-20916: Pip Path Traversal Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-gpvv-69j7-gwj8
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-20916 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Pip libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves path traversal in pip. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 19.2.

CVE-2019-20916 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-20916
GHSA Identifier GHSA-gpvv-69j7-gwj8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product Pip
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2019-20916

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Pip dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

pip fixed: 19.2 
pip install pip>=19.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show pip

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2019-20916, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show pip

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Pip in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 19.2), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show pip command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'), where the product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. In Pip, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The pip package before 19.2 for Python allows Directory Traversal when a URL is given in an install command, because a Content-Disposition header can have ../ in a filename, as demonstrated by overwriting the /root/.ssh/authorized_keys file. This occurs in _download_http_url in _internal/download.py. A fix was committed 6704f2ace.

CVE-2019-20916 Affected Pip Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
19.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
pip
pypi/pip
PyPI
< 19.2
19.2

References

NVD — CVE-2019-20916 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-20916
Pip Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/6413
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/gzpan123/pip/commit/a4c735b14a62f9cb864533808ac63936704f2ace
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gpvv-69j7-gwj8
Pip Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/pip/PYSEC-2020-173.yaml
Pip Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/pip
Pip Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/pip/compare/19.1.1...19.2
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/09/msg00010.html
Pip Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
Pip Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
Pip Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00005.html
Pip Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00010.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-20916?
CVE-2019-20916 is a security vulnerability in Pip involving Path Traversal in pip under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Pip versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 19.2 across affected packages: pip.
What version fixes CVE-2019-20916?
Upgrading to 19.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is pip affected?
Yes, pip is affected in releases prior to 19.2. Upgrade your dependency to 19.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-20916?
CVE-2019-20916 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-20916?
CVE-2019-20916 is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2019-20916?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show pip'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-gpvv-69j7-gwj8",
  "modified" : "2024-10-11T21:08:14Z",
  "published" : "2021-06-09T17:35:04Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-20916" ],
  "summary" : "Path Traversal in pip",
  "details" : "The pip package before 19.2 for Python allows Directory Traversal when a URL is given in an install command, because a Content-Disposition header can have ../ in a filename, as demonstrated by overwriting the /root/.ssh/authorized_keys file. This occurs in _download_http_url in _internal/download.py. A fix was committed 6704f2ace.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "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"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "pip"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "19.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-20916"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/6413"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/gzpan123/pip/commit/a4c735b14a62f9cb864533808ac63936704f2ace"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gpvv-69j7-gwj8"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/pip/PYSEC-2020-173.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/pip"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/pip/compare/19.1.1...19.2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/09/msg00010.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00005.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-10/msg00010.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-05-04T22:55:04Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-09-04T20:15:00Z"
  }
}