BBOT's Symlink guard bypass in unarchive module allows planting symlinks during extraction

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2026-14966: 0.38% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 32.49 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

BBOT's unarchive module rejects archives containing symlink entries before extraction, but for zip and 7z archives it failed to detect symlinks whose listing carries a DOS-attribute prefix before the unix mode, as produced by legacy versions of p7zip. Such an archive, downloaded and extracted during a scan (for example via filedownload), bypassed the guard and caused an attacker-controlled symlink to be written into the extraction directory. The effect is limited to planting the symlink (its target is not written through), and only hosts using such a legacy p7zip build are affected; current mainline 7-Zip is not.

Published by the source

14 Oct 2026, 19:34 UTC

Last modified by the source

14 Oct 2026, 19:55 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:55 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756

2. Revision 2 · amended · 24 Oct 2026

   Amended from osv record GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756

3. Revision 1 · created · 23 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-14966

Advisory: BBOT's Symlink guard bypass in unarchive module allows planting symlinks during extraction
IDs: CVE-2026-14966, GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-14966 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:55 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 3.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: bbot 3.0.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI bbot: affected >= 2.3.1, < 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show bbot`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on bbot.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756 lists affected ranges: PyPI bbot >=2.3.1 <3.0.0)
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756 (OSV record GHSA-xpf3-p7gm-7756 lists affected ranges: PyPI bbot >=2.3.1 <3.0.0 (fixed))

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