CVE-2026-22702

CVSS 4.5 Medium
  • CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
  • Published: 2026-01-10T07:16:02.857

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to version 20.36.1, TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) vulnerabilities in virtualenv allow local attackers to perform symlink-based attacks on directory creation operations. An attacker with local access can exploit a race condition between directory existence checks and creation to redirect virtualenv’s app_data and lock file operations to attacker-controlled locations. This issue has been patched in version 20.36.1.

Related CVE by CWE

No related CWE found.

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Recently Exploited Similar Vulnerabilities

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How to fix CVE-2026-22702

CVE-2026-22702 is a medium severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to version 20.36.1, TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) vulnerabilities in virtualenv allow local attackers to perform symlink-based attacks on directory creation operations. An attacker with local access can exploit a race condition between directory existence checks and creation to redirect virtualenv’s app_data and lock file operations to […]

Exploit Difficulty: VERY HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: Days or weeks
🛠️ Required skills: Expert-level security skills
💰 Public exploits: Not publicly available

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

VERY HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: Days or weeks
🛠️ Skills Required: Expert-level security skills
💰 Public Exploits: Not publicly available

Vulnerability Timeline

Jan 10, 2026
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Jan 10, 2026
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.