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PythonApplication

CVE-2015-20107

HIGH · 7.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.10.8 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Public exploit Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Python (aka CPython) up to 3.10.8, the mailcap module does not add escape characters into commands discovered in the system mailcap file. This may allow attackers to inject shell commands into applications that call mailcap.findmatch with untrusted input (if they lack validation of user-provided filenames or arguments). The fix is also back-ported to 3.7, 3.8, 3.9

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-77

User input reaches a command interpreter without being fully separated from the command itself, so an attacker can append instructions of their own. Because those run with the application's privileges, it frequently means control of the host. The lasting fix is to avoid constructing commands from input — call APIs directly and pass arguments as data, never as concatenated strings.

General guidance for the command injection class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PythonApplication
Affected:>= 3.7.0, <= 3.7.15>= 3.8.0, <= 3.8.15>= 3.9.0, <= 3.9.15>= 3.10.0, < 3.10.8
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 35= 36= 37
Active Iq Unified ManagerApplication
Affected:all versions
Ontap Select Deploy Administration UtilityApplication
Affected:all versions
SnapcenterApplication
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

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

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.10.8 or later
Fixed in 3.10.8
Vendor patch python-security.readthedocs.io →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Python 3.10.9+, 3.9.16+, 3.8.16+, or 3.7.16+ (whichever branch is in use). For production systems, prefer Python 3.10.12 or 3.11.x for longer support.

  1. Identify the current Python version in use (python3 --version)
  2. Review application code to identify any usage of the mailcap.findmatch() function with untrusted input
  3. For Linux/Fedora systems: Update Python using the system package manager (e.g., 'sudo dnf update python3' or 'sudo dnf upgrade python3')
  4. Verify the installed Python version meets the fixed releases: 3.7.16+, 3.8.16+, 3.9.16+, or 3.10.9+
  5. For affected NetApp products (Active Iq Unified Manager, Ontap Select Deploy Administration Utility, Snapcenter): Contact NetApp support for specific patches as no vendor patches are publicly listed
  6. Test applications that use mailcap module to ensure functionality is intact after upgrade
Caveat Python minor version upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; however, test custom code that uses mailcap.findmatch() as the fix adds shell escaping which may alter command behavior if arguments are being passed.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-20107 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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