CVE-2026-24049
HIGHwheel 0.40.0-0.46.1 - Arbitrary File Permission Modification via Malicious Wheel Archive
Title source: llmExploitation Summary
EIP tracks 2 public exploits for CVE-2026-24049. PoCs published by XiaomingX, kriskimmerle.
AI-analyzed exploit summary The repository contains a Python-based security scanner (`wheelaudit.py`) designed to detect vulnerabilities in Python wheel files, including path traversal (CVE-2026-24049) and other structural issues. It does not include exploit code but provides a tool to scan for such vulnerabilities.
Description
wheel is a command line tool for manipulating Python wheel files, as defined in PEP 427. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.46.1, the unpack function is vulnerable to file permission modification through mishandling of file permissions after extraction. The logic blindly trusts the filename from the archive header for the chmod operation, even though the extraction process itself might have sanitized the path. Attackers can craft a malicious wheel file that, when unpacked, changes the permissions of critical system files (e.g., /etc/passwd, SSH keys, config files), allowing for Privilege Escalation or arbitrary code execution by modifying now-writable scripts. This issue has been fixed in version 0.46.2.
Exploits (2)
The repository contains a Python-based security scanner (`wheelaudit.py`) designed to detect vulnerabilities in Python wheel files, including path traversal (CVE-2026-24049) and other structural issues. It does not include exploit code but provides a tool to scan for such vulnerabilities.
This repository contains a Python-based security scanner for analyzing `.whl` files for structural vulnerabilities, including path traversal, RECORD integrity, and malicious code patterns. It is designed to complement tools like `pip-audit` by detecting potential threats in wheel files before installation.
References (3)
Scores
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H