CVE-2019-12761
HIGHCVE-2019-12761 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Code Injection vulnerability in pyxdg. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2019-12761 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Code Injection in PyXDG
Blast Radius
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Description
A code injection issue was discovered in PyXDG before 0.26 via crafted Python code in a Category element of a Menu XML document in a .menu file. XDG_CONFIG_DIRS must be set up to trigger xdg.Menu.parse parsing within the directory containing this file. This is due to a lack of sanitization in xdg/Menu.py before an eval call.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | pyxdg | all versions | 0.26 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pyxdg. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update pyxdg to 0.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-12761 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2019-12761 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2019-12761. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-12761 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2019-12761 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.