CVE-2026-61668
HIGHCVE-2026-61668 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) remote code execution vulnerability in dirac. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-61668 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
DIRAC: Pilot code downloaded over unverified HTTPS connection
Real-World Exposure
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Description
Summary
The second stage pilot (pilot.tar) is downloaded by the initial wrapper script without any verification of the webservers' SSL certificate and the contained script is subsequently executed. The checksum is tested, but the reference checksum file is downloaded over the same unvalidated channel.
Details
The pilot wrapper downloads and executes the main second stage pilot script, but the SSL validation on this connection is explicitly disabled (to match old python < 2.7.9 behaviour): https://github.com/DIRACGrid/DIRAC/blob/integration/src/DIRAC/WorkloadManagementSystem/Utilities/PilotWrapper.py#L292-L296
This means that the second stage pilot code is not verified in any way and could potentially be altered by a man-in-the-middle attack to execute arbitrary code in the pilot context (i.e. with access to the pilot proxy/credentials).
The HTTPS connection should be validated against both the system certificates and $X509_CERT_DIR and fail if neither validate correctly.
Impact
This would require a man-in-the-middle style attack against a grid site's network (i.e. changing the DNS or routing to redirect the pilot's connection); this is likely to be difficult which probably limits the potential impact.
Patched versions:
https://pypi.org/project/DIRAC/8.0.79/ https://pypi.org/project/DIRAC/9.0.22/ https://pypi.org/project/DIRAC/9.1.10/
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | dirac | ≥ 6.20.1&&< 8.0.79 | 8.0.79 |
| 🐍PyPI | dirac | ≥ 8.1.0a1&&< 9.0.22 | 9.0.22 |
| 🐍PyPI | dirac | ≥ 9.1.0&&< 9.1.10 | 9.1.10 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for dirac. 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 dirac to 8.0.79 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-61668 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-2026-61668 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-2026-61668. 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-2026-61668 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-61668 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.