VulnerabilityModified

CVE-2023-49797

A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to.

HIGH 7.8EPSS 0.32%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.32%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

PyInstaller bundles a Python application and all its dependencies into a single package. A PyInstaller built application, elevated as a privileged process, may be tricked by an unprivileged attacker into deleting files the unprivileged user does not otherwise have access to. A user is affected if **all** the following are satisfied: 1. The user runs an application containing either `matplotlib` or `win32com`. 2. The application is ran as administrator (or at least a user with higher privileges than the attacker). 3. The user's temporary directory is not locked to that specific user (most likely due to `TMP`/`TEMP` environment variables pointing to an unprotected, arbitrary, non default location). Either: A. The attacker is able to very carefully time the replacement of a temporary file with a symlink. This switch must occur exactly between `shutil.rmtree()`'s builtin symlink check and the deletion itself B: The application was built with Python 3.7.x or earlier which has no protection against Directory Junctions links. The vulnerability has been addressed in PR #7827 which corresponds to `pyinstaller >= 5.13.1`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

CVSS 3.1: 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.32% probability · 25th percentile
CISA KEV: Not listed
Weakness: CWE-379, CWE-732
Affected: pyinstaller/pyinstaller
Source: security-advisories@github.com

References

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.