CVE-2022-36069 HIGH

CVE-2022-36069: Poetry Argument Injection vulnerability can lead to local Code Execution

Vendor Python-Poetry
Product poetry
Weakness CWE-94 · Code injection
Published September 7, 2022
Last update April 22, 2025

CVSS base score

7.3/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction Required
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Poetry is a dependency manager for Python. When handling dependencies that come from a Git repository instead of a registry, Poetry uses various commands, such as `git clone`. These commands are constructed using user input (e.g. the repository URL). When building the commands, Poetry correctly avoids Command Injection vulnerabilities by passing an array of arguments instead of a command string. However, there is the possibility that a user input starts with a dash (`-`) and is therefore treated as an optional argument instead of a positional one. This can lead to Code Execution because some of the commands have options that can be leveraged to run arbitrary executables. If a developer is exploited, the attacker could steal credentials or persist their access. If the exploit happens on a server, the attackers could use their access to attack other internal systems. Since this vulnerability requires a fair amount of user interaction, it is not as dangerous as a remotely exploitable one. However, it still puts developers at risk when dealing with untrusted files in a way they think is safe, because the exploit still works when the victim tries to make sure nothing can happen, e.g. by vetting any Git or Poetry config files that might be present in the directory. Versions 1.1.9 and 1.2.0b1 contain patches for this issue.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

September 7, 2022 CVE published
April 22, 2025 Record updated