Vulnerability · Published Jul 29, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-50558Penelope unsafe tar extraction allows arbitrary local file write via crafted session archive
Medium 5.9
In plain English
A medium-severity path traversal in penelope from brightio. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 31% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Penelope Shell Handler is a post-exploitation shell handler for authorized security testing. Prior to 0.20.0, the Unix download() implementation in penelope.py used tar.extractall(local_download_folder) on tar archives returned by remote sessions without validating member paths, allowing a malicious or compromised session to write files outside the intended download directory and potentially overwrite ~/.penelope/peneloperc. This issue is fixed in version 0.20.0.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | penelope-shell-handler | 0.20.0 | GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r |
| PyPI | penelope-shell-handler | 0.20.0 | PYSEC-2026-3606 |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-22 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L