Default mimetype known files writeable on Windows
There is a defect in the CPython standard library module “mimetypes” where on Windows the default list of known file locations are writable meaning other users can create invalid files to cause MemoryError to be raised on Python runtime startup or have file extensions be interpreted as the incorrect file type. This defect is caused by the default locations of Linux and macOS platforms (such as “/etc/mime.types”) also being used on Windows, where they are user-writable locations (“C:\etc\mime.types”). To work-around this issue a user can call mimetypes.init() with an empty list (“[]”) on Windows platforms to avoid using the default list of known file locations.
- Products
- CPython
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2024-3220
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 29 Oct 2026, 07:24 UTC · Revision 2
Source evidence
Default mimetype known files writeable on Windows
core-cve · Original sourcePublished 14 Feb 2025, 16:18 UTC
There is a defect in the CPython standard library module “mimetypes” where on Windows the default list of known file locations are writable meaning other users can create invalid files to cause MemoryError to be raised on Python runtime startup or have file extensions be interpreted as the incorrect file type. This defect is caused by the default locations of Linux and macOS platforms (such as “/etc/mime.types”) also being used on Windows, where they are user-writable locations (“C:\etc\mime.types”). To work-around this issue a user can call mimetypes.init() with an empty list (“[]”) on Windows platforms to avoid using the default list of known file locations.
cve:CVE-2024-3220
CPython
Fixed versions: Not specified
Complete source record
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