# CVE-2026-24049: wheel Allows Arbitrary File Permission Modification via Path Traversal > Attackers can exploit path traversal in the wheel unpack function to modify permissions of critical system files, leading to privilege escalation or code execution. - **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 22 Jan 2026 - **Updated:** 16 Sep 2026 - **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2026-24049, ALSA-2026:1902, ALSA-2026:1939, ALSA-2026:2090, AZL-75192, AZL-75195, AZL-77826, BELL-CVE-2026-24049, CLEANSTART-2026-JE51957, CLEANSTART-2026-RC93064, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-24049, ECHO-3d34-cec5-cf72, GHSA-8rrh-rw8j-w5fx, MINI-2mhf-ww6q-74j3, MINI-44h6-x5qw-xg5w, MINI-877q-m6xh-6h4p, MINI-f48p-q96g-rmfr, MINI-g4mw-jpm5-fjv5, MINI-hw4h-w896-gwrr, MINI-jrqh-hpmv-8h28, MINI-m9c4-v438-j4vj, MINI-qvwh-54hg-ggh3, MINI-rwq5-ggj3-h4xp, MINI-vr6m-jp4v-gc9q, MINI-w6pm-fqwx-6f62, MINI-wcpg-fjw3-49x8, OESA-2026-1279, OESA-2026-1280, OESA-2026-1281, OESA-2026-1376, PYSEC-2026-2047, RHSA-2026:1902, RHSA-2026:1939, RHSA-2026:2090, RHSA-2026:2710, RHSA-2026:2823, RHSA-2026:2865, RHSA-2026:2866, RLSA-2026:1902, RLSA-2026:1939, RLSA-2026:2090, ROOT-APP-PYPI-CVE-2026-24049, SUSE-SU-2026:0424-1, SUSE-SU-2026:0425-1, SUSE-SU-2026:0460-1, SUSE-SU-2026:20217-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-24049, USN-8221-1, openSUSE-SU-2026:10151-1, openSUSE-SU-2026:20147-1 ## What is CVE-2026-24049? CVE-2026-24049 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in pypa wheel, published on 22 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. ### Official description wheel is a command line tool for manipulating Python wheel files, as defined in PEP 427. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.46.1, the unpack function is vulnerable to file permission modification through mishandling of file permissions after extraction. The logic blindly trusts the filename from the archive header for the chmod operation, even though the extraction process itself might have sanitized the path. Attackers can craft a malicious wheel file that, when unpacked, changes the permissions of critical system files (e.g., /etc/passwd, SSH keys, config files), allowing for Privilege Escalation or arbitrary code execution by modifying now-writable scripts. This issue has been fixed in version 0.46.2. Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource), CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-24049? 3 open source packages ship an affected version, including wheel. It affects 1 product. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `wheel` | PyPI | From 0.40.0 | 0.46.2 | | `wheel` | PyPI | From 0.40.0 | 0.46.2 | | `wheel` | PyPI | From 0.40.0 | 0.46.2 | | `python3-wheel` | AlmaLinux:10 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3-wheel-wheel` | AlmaLinux:10 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3.12-wheel` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 0.41.2-4.el8_10 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 0.41.2-4.el8_10 | | `python3.12-wheel` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 0.41.2-3.el9_7.1 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 0.41.2-3.el9_7.1 | | `discovery-cli` | Red Hat:discovery:2::el10 | All versions | 0:2.4.3-2.el10 | | `discovery-cli` | Red Hat:discovery:2::el8 | All versions | 0:2.4.3-2.el8 | | `discovery-cli` | Red Hat:discovery:2::el9 | All versions | 0:2.4.3-2.el9 | | `python-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.1 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:0.41.2-4.el8_10 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::crb | All versions | 0:0.41.2-4.el8_10 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_7.1 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::crb | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_7.1 | | `python-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_0.1 | | `python3-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_0.1 | | `python3-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_0.1 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::appstream | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_4.1 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.4::crb | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_4.1 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.6::appstream | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_6.1 | | `python3.12-wheel-wheel` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:9.6::crb | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_6.1 | | `python-wheel` | Rocky Linux:10 | All versions | 1:0.41.2-5.el10_1.1 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:0.41.2-4.el8_10 | | `python3.12-wheel` | Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 0:0.41.2-3.el9_7.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP4 | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Python 3 15 SP7 | All versions | 0.42.0-150600.3.3.1 | | `python313-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Python 3 15 SP7 | All versions | 0.44.0-150700.3.3.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS | All versions | 0.40.0-150400.13.10.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS | All versions | 0.42.0-150600.3.3.1 | | `python-wheel` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 | All versions | 0.45.1-160000.3.1 | Products: Wheel Project Wheel. ## How do I fix CVE-2026-24049? Upgrade wheel to 0.46.2 or later. ## Is CVE-2026-24049 being exploited? It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-24049 exists. Public exploit code: - Python Wheel File Security Scanner — scan .whl files for security issues before installation. Detects path traversal (CVE-2026-24049), RECORD tampering, command shadowing, secrets, zip bombs. Zero deps. (github_poc): https://github.com/kriskimmerle/wheelaudit ## Other vulnerabilities in pypa wheel - [CVE-2022-40898](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-40898/): pypa/wheel vulnerable to Regular Expression denial of service (ReDoS) (high 7.5) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2026-24049 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2026-24049 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in pypa wheel, published on 22 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-24049 exists. Affected packages and fixed versions: - wheel (PyPI): affected from 0.40.0; fixed in 0.46.2 - wheel (PyPI): affected from 0.40.0; fixed in 0.46.2 - wheel (PyPI): affected from 0.40.0; fixed in 0.46.2 Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24049/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24049/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-24049 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24049 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-24049 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24049/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.