CVE-2022-36070 | Poetry's Untrusted Search Path can lead to Local Code Execution on Windows

Poetry is a dependency manager for Python. To handle dependencies that come from a Git repository, Poetry executes various commands, e.g. `git config`. These commands are being executed using the executable’s name and not its absolute path. This can lead to the execution of untrusted code due to the way Windows resolves executable names to paths. Unlike Linux-based operating systems, Windows searches for the executable in the current directory first and looks in the paths that are defined in the `PATH` environment variable afterward. This vulnerability can lead to Arbitrary Code Execution, which would lead to the takeover of the system. 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. The victim could also not protect themself by vetting any Git or Poetry config files that might be present in the directory, because the behavior is undocumented. Versions 1.1.9 and 1.2.0b1 contain patches for this issue.

Published: 2022-09-07 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2022-36070 is rated Low Risk (39.7/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.11%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-36070

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-10-12 0.33% 0.11% -0.22%
2 2025-09-09 0.35% 0.33% -0.02%
3 2025-09-08 0.35%

Full EPSS history (9 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-36070

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.3 5.9 [email protected]
7.3 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.3 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-36070

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2022-36070

GHSA-j4j9-7hg9-97g6 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — Poetry vulnerable to Untrusted Search Path leading to Local Code Execution on Windows

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-36070

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2022-36070 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (poetry-core), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-36070
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-36070 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (poetry), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 2, ignored 2, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-36070

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-36070

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
python-poetry poetry < 1.1.9 cpe:2.3:a:python-poetry:poetry:*:*:*:*:*:python:*:*
python-poetry poetry 1.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:python-poetry:poetry:1.2.0:alpha1:*:*:*:python:*:*
python-poetry poetry 1.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:python-poetry:poetry:1.2.0:alpha2:*:*:*:python:*:*

References for CVE-2022-36070

cvelogic Threat Intelligence