CVE-2017-16228 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) vulnerability in dulwich. A fix is available for dulwich — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Dulwich RCE Vulnerability
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
dulwichReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Dulwich before 0.18.5, when an SSH subprocess is used, allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via an ssh URL with an initial dash character in the hostname, a related issue to CVE-2017-9800, CVE-2017-12836, CVE-2017-12976, CVE-2017-1000116, and CVE-2017-1000117.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | dulwich | all versions | 0.18.5pip install --upgrade 'dulwich==0.18.5' |
Affected Products
dulwichdulwich_projectDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for dulwich, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update dulwich to 0.18.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-16228 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-16228 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.