CVE-2026-115791: Prevent shadowing stdlib in gzip/tarfile/zipfile CLI during extraction

Is it exploited?

Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of 10 Nov 2026. If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

0.2%

EPSS score, percentile 5.4 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.

How severe?

5.3 Medium

CVSS v4.0 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.

Advisories and patches (2)

Which versions are affected?

Affected

• before 3.16.0

Versions by product

Source: CISA KEV 2026.11.10, as of 10 Nov 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 12 Nov 2026; CVE List, as of 12 Nov 2026. About the data.

Description

Prevent shadowing stdlib in gzip/tarfile/zipfile CLI during extraction

When tarfile or zipfile command line interface (CLI) is used to decompress an archive, a Python script shadowing the stdlib can be created. Then if an error occurs during decompressing the next file, the newly created Python script is executed. This is especially true if the created Python is called traceback.py. The problem is that Python adds the current directory to sys.path when python -m MODULE is run, and the archive is also decompressed in the current directory. The fix removes sys.path[0] in gzip, tarfile and zipfile command line interface to prevent shadowing standard library modules from extracted files.

Source: CVE List, as of 12 Nov 2026. About the data.

What to do

Advisories and patches

• github.com (Patch)
• mail.python.org (Vendor advisory)

This summary is based on the CVE record as of 12 Nov 2026. Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.

Affected products and versions

Source: CVE List, as of 12 Nov 2026. About the data.

Timeline