CVE-2022-36070
Poetry's Untrusted Search Path can lead to Local Code Execution on Windows
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- GitHub_M
Description
Poetry is a dependency manager for Python. To handle dependencies that come from a Git repository, Poetry executes various commands, e.g. `git config`. These commands are being executed using the executable’s name and not its absolute path. This can lead to the execution of untrusted code due to the way Windows resolves executable names to paths. Unlike Linux-based operating systems, Windows searches for the executable in the current directory first and looks in the paths that are defined in the `PATH` environment variable afterward. This vulnerability can lead to Arbitrary Code Execution, which would lead to the takeover of the system. If a developer is exploited, the attacker could steal credentials or persist their access. If the exploit happens on a server, the attackers could use their access to attack other internal systems. Since this vulnerability requires a fair amount of user interaction, it is not as dangerous as a remotely exploitable one. However, it still puts developers at risk when dealing with untrusted files in a way they think is safe. The victim could also not protect themself by vetting any Git or Poetry config files that might be present in the directory, because the behavior is undocumented. Versions 1.1.9 and 1.2.0b1 contain patches for this issue.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.36% · top 70% of all CVEs (2 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
Loading the EPSS history…
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.3.
Weakness
Affected products
python-poetry · poetry
- affected < 1.1.9
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIpoetryGHSA-j4j9-7hg9-97g6 (opens in a new tab)
References (3)
- https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/releases/tag/1.1.9 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/security/advisories/GHSA-j4j9-7hg9-97g6 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry/releases/tag/1.2.0b1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-j4j9-7hg9-97g6 (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Record last updated .