CVE-2026-53940

8.8 HIGHpublic exploit available

Published 2026-09-21 · Updated 2026-09-24

AI risk analysis

Summary: The flaw allows a malicious package to write an executable wrapper outside the intended directory or overwrite another entry point, leading to potential code execution with the installing user's privileges.
Exploitability: Exploitation requires a malicious noarch:python package and the ability to manipulate the entry-point command. The issue is relatively straightforward to exploit given the right conditions.
Blast radius: If exploited, the impact could be severe, as it allows execution of attacker-controlled Python code with the installing user's privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise.
Detection: No reliable host or network indicator is derivable from the published description.
Prioritized remediation: Upgrade to conda 26.5.2 or later.

rcecode-executionpackage-management

Analysis generated locally by qwen2.5:7b-instruct (no data left the box). AI-assisted — verify against primary sources before acting.

NVD description

Conda is a system-level binary package and environment manager that runs on major operating systems and platforms. Prior to 26.5.2, parse_entry_point_def in conda/common/path/python.py accepted an unvalidated entry-point command from a noarch:python package's info/link.json metadata. CreatePythonEntryPointAction in conda/core/path_actions.py interpolated that command into target_short_path, and PrefixPathAction.target_full_path joined it to the installation prefix without verifying that the result remained under the intended bin or Scripts directory. create_python_entry_point in conda/gateways/disk/create.py then wrote an executable wrapper to the resulting path. A malicious package could use path separators, traversal segments, or an absolute command path to write outside the prefix or overwrite another in-prefix entry point during default install and environment transactions. Out-of-prefix writes require the target parent directory to exist, while an overwritten entry point can execute attacker-controlled Python when later invoked with the installing user's privileges. This issue is fixed in version 26.5.2.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses

CWE-22, CWE-73

Public exploit & PoC references

All references

Source data: NVD (nvd.nist.gov), public domain. Exploit-DB.ai adds local AI analysis for defensive use only.

Related CVEs

Related by shared AI tags and CWE weakness class. Browse the full archive.