pip up to 25.2 on Python TAR Archive symlink

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in pip up to 25.2 on Python. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component TAR Archive Handler. The manipulation leads to symlink. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2025-8869. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in pip up to 25.2 on Python. This issue affects an unknown code of the component TAR Archive Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-61. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

When extracting a tar archive pip may not check symbolic links point into the extraction directory if the tarfile module doesn't implement PEP 706. Note that upgrading pip to a "fixed" version for this vulnerability doesn't fix all known vulnerabilities that are remediated by using a Python version that implements PEP 706. Note that this is a vulnerability in pip's fallback implementation of tar extraction for Python versions that don't implement PEP 706 and therefore are not secure to all vulnerabilities in the Python 'tarfile' module. If you're using a Python version that implements PEP 706 then pip doesn't use the "vulnerable" fallback code. Mitigations include upgrading to a version of pip that includes the fix, upgrading to a Python version that implements PEP 706 (Python >=3.9.17, >=3.10.12, >=3.11.4, or >=3.12), applying the linked patch, or inspecting source distributions (sdists) before installation as is already a best-practice.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-8869 since 08/11/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 266031 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-8869), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 25.3 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (266031) and EUVD (EUVD-2025-30961). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

• pip

Version

• 25.0
• 25.1
• 25.2

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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