pip TAR Extraction Vulnerability: Symbolic Links without PEP706
CVE-2025-8869 Published on September 24, 2025
Fallback tar extraction in pip doesn't check symbolic links point to extraction directory
When extracting a tar archive pip may not check symbolic links point into the extraction directory if the tarfile module doesn't implement PEP 706.
Note that upgrading pip to a "fixed" version for this vulnerability doesn't fix all known vulnerabilities that are remediated by using a Python version that implements PEP 706.
Note that this is a vulnerability in pip's fallback implementation of tar extraction for Python versions that don't implement PEP 706
and therefore are not secure to all vulnerabilities in the Python 'tarfile' module. If you're using a Python version that implements PEP 706
then pip doesn't use the "vulnerable" fallback code.
Mitigations include upgrading to a version of pip that includes the fix, upgrading to a Python version that implements PEP 706 (Python >=3.9.17, >=3.10.12, >=3.11.4, or >=3.12),
applying the linked patch, or inspecting source distributions (sdists) before installation as is already a best-practice.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-8869
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Affected Versions
Python Packaging Authority pip:- Before 25.3 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.