Protected file deletion via insecure temporary-directory cleanup
Published Dec 9, 2023 · Updated Feb 13, 2025
Insecure temporary-directory handling in PyInstaller before 5.13.1 allows local users to delete protected files through elevated Windows applications. The matplotlib and win32com runtime hooks create temporary directories with tempfile.mkdtemp, whose POSIX mode does not restrict access on Windows, and cleanup passes attacker-replaceable paths to shutil.rmtree. Exploitation requires an elevated bundled application, an attacker-accessible nondefault temporary directory, and either precise symlink timing or a Python 3.7.x-or-earlier junction.
Summary
What happened
Insecure temporary-directory handling in PyInstaller before 5.13.1 allows local users to delete protected files through elevated Windows applications. The matplotlib and win32com runtime hooks create temporary directories with tempfile.mkdtemp, whose POSIX mode does not restrict access on Windows, and cleanup passes attacker-replaceable paths to shutil.rmtree. Exploitation requires an elevated bundled application, an attacker-accessible nondefault temporary directory, and either precise symlink timing or a Python 3.7.x-or-earlier junction.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-49797
- Published
- Dec 9, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2025
- Vendor
- PyInstaller
- Product
- PyInstaller
- Classifications
- CWE-732, CWE-379, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 9, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 5.13.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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