CVE-2026-12003: CPython >3.11 Insecure Input Validation resulting in privilege escalation
Python Software Foundation · CPython
Vendor fix available · Affected: Python Software Foundation CPython · Exploitation: unlikely (under 1%)
Not in CyberSIXT coverage yet: no article names this CVE. This page shows the public record.
Higher than 3% of scored CVEs
DescriptionCVE.org
To allow builds of Python to be run from an in-tree layout (rather than an installed file layout), the VPATH variable is defined at build time and used to locate certain landmarks - specifically, Modules/setup.local. When this landmark is found relative to VPATH relative to the executable, Python assumes it is running in a source tree and generates a different default sys.path. This code remains in release builds, so that release-ready builds can be built in-tree. On Windows, since builds are written to 'PCbuild/', the value of VPATH is set to '..\..', which results in a landmark of '..\..\Modules\setup.local'. This path is outside the install directory of Python, and may have different permissions, potentially allowing a low-privilege user to create the landmark and an alternative `Lib` folder that will be discovered by an otherwise restricted install. Such a setup occurs with the legacy default install location for all users (in the now superseded EXE installer), due to how Windows allows all users to create folders in the root directory of their OS drive. Our recommended mitigation on Windows is to migrate away from the legacy installer and use the new [Python install manager](https://www.python.org/downloads/latest/pymanager/) to install for the current user. Installs where the directory two levels above the Python installation directory have equivalent permissions are unaffected (in general, a per-user install cannot be modified at all by other users, removing any escalation of privilege risk, and could be directly modified by a privileged user, making the potential tampering irrelevant). Alternative mitigations might include preemptively creating and restricting access to a `Modules` directory. Be aware that only 3.13 and 3.14 will receive updated legacy installers - earlier fixes are only provided as sources.
Affected products1
From the CVE record. A product or version that is not listed is unknown, not unaffected.
- Python Software Foundation · CPythonbefore 3.11.16; from 3.12.0 before 3.12.14; from 3.13.0 before 3.13.15; from 3.14.0 before 3.14.7; from 3.15.0a1 before 3.15.0b3
On the Atlas
Every published CVE is on the CyberSIXT Atlas, grouped by weakness, vendor and month.
- Exploitation
- Unlikely (under 1%). EPSS under 1%, or no score yet.
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Public check
- No public nuclei template
- Published
- June 2026
CoverageNo articles yet
No CyberSIXT article names CVE-2026-12003 yet, so there is no coverage timeline, action brief or change log for it. Everything on this page comes from the public CVE record, CISA KEV, EPSS and the nuclei template index. Search the archive or see the CVEs in the news.