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Insecure Temp File Reuse in extract_zipped_paths()

Moderate
nateprewitt published GHSA-gc5v-m9x4-r6x2 Mar 25, 2026

Package

pip requests (pip)

Affected versions

<2.33.0

Patched versions

2.33.0

Description

Impact

The requests.utils.extract_zipped_paths() utility function uses a predictable filename when extracting files from zip archives into the system temporary directory. If the target file already exists, it is reused without validation. A local attacker with write access to the temp directory could pre-create a malicious file that would be loaded in place of the legitimate one.

Affected usages

Standard usage of the Requests library is not affected by this vulnerability.
Only applications that call extract_zipped_paths() directly are impacted.

Remediation

Upgrade to at least Requests 2.33.0, where the library now extracts files to a non-deterministic location.

If you're unable to upgrade, you can set TMPDIR in your environment to a directory with restricted write access.

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVE ID

CVE-2026-25645

Weaknesses

Insecure Temporary File

Creating and using insecure temporary files can leave application and system data vulnerable to attack. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits