How severe is CVE-2023-5752?

CVE-2023-5752 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-5752?

CVE-2023-5752 affects the following packages: pip (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix CVE-2023-5752?

Update pip to 23.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-5752 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-5752 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pip, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-5752 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is CVE-2023-5752 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2023-5752 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-5752?

CVE-2023-5752 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 43th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-5752?

CVE-2023-5752 is classified as CWE-77 (CWE-77). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2023-5752 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-5752 was published on October 24, 2023 and was last updated on October 28, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2023-5752 — pip

MEDIUMFix: pypa/pip#12306

CVE-2023-5752 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-77 vulnerability in pip. A fix is available for pip — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Mercurial configuration injectable in repo revision when installing via pip

Also known asGHSA-mq26-g339-26xfPYSEC-2023-228

Published

Oct 24, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 2, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-5752.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs43th percentile — riskier than 43% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

1 pkg affected

🐍pip

Real-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

When installing a package from a Mercurial VCS URL (ie "pip install hg+...") with pip prior to v23.3, the specified Mercurial revision could be used to inject arbitrary configuration options to the "hg clone" call (ie "--config"). Controlling the Mercurial configuration can modify how and which repository is installed. This vulnerability does not affect users who aren't installing from Mercurial.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`pip`	all versions	23.3`pip install --upgrade 'pip==23.3'`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

pippypa

< 23.3

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for pip, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update pip to 23.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-5752 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatLow

Mercurial is not available in RHEL 8 and 9, so the vulnerability cannot be exploited. Without mercurial installed (the hg command), pip cannot clone and install from hg+http[s] URLs.

Workaround published by Red Hat

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.

Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2023-5752 (CC BY 4.0)

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8	`automation-controller-0:4.5.7-1.el8ap`	RHSA-2024:3781

Frequently Asked Questions

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