pip Vulnerable to Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control SphereGHSA-jp4c-xjxw-mgf9
Fix: pypa/pip#13923GHSA-jp4c-xjxw-mgf9 is a CWE-829 vulnerability in pip. A fix is available for pip — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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 GHSA-jp4c-xjxw-mgf9.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
pipReal-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
pip prior to version 26.1 would run self-update check functionality after installing wheel files which required importing well-known Python modules names. These module imports were intentionally deferred to increase startup time of the pip CLI. The patch changes self-update functionality to run before wheels are installed to prevent newly-installed modules from being imported shortly after the installation of a wheel package. Users should still review package contents prior to installation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | pip | all versions | 26.1pip install --upgrade 'pip==26.1' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
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 26.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jp4c-xjxw-mgf9 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.
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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images | python-pip-main-26.2-0.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:48788 |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.0 | rhai/base-image-rocm-rhel9:1793041981 | RHSA-2026:91219 |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.0 | rhai/base-image-cuda-rhel9:1793042067 | RHSA-2026:91236 |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.0 | rhai/base-image-cuda-rhel9:1793328358 | RHSA-2026:94476 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jp4c-xjxw-mgf9 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.