High
Security advisory
The MSI installer for Python through 2.7.16 on Windows defaults to the C:\Python27 directory, which makes it easier for local users to deploy Trojan horse code. (This also affects old 3.x releases before 3.5.) NOTE: the vendor's position is that it is the user's responsibility to ensure C:\Python27 access control or choose a different directory, because backwards compatibility requires that C:\Python27 remain the default for 2.7.x
- Products
- Not specified
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2019-13404
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 06:25 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
The MSI installer for Python through 2.7.16 on Windows defaults to the C:\Python27 directory, which makes it easier for local users to deploy Trojan horse code. (This also affects old 3.x releases before 3.5.) NOTE: the vendor's position is that it is the user's responsibility to ensure C:\Python27 access control or choose a different directory, because backwards compatibility requires that C:\Python27 remain the default for 2.7.x
osv:CVE-2019-13404
Complete source record
{
"id": "0305ff1d389a8c9ff7446208801fd78f929b6a854707b8d913f90f158d189943",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-13404",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "CVE-2019-13404",
"summary": "The MSI installer for Python through 2.7.16 on Windows defaults to the C:\\Python27 directory, which makes it easier for local users to deploy Trojan horse code. (This also affects old 3.x releases before 3.5.) NOTE: the vendor's position is that it is the user's responsibility to ensure C:\\Python27 access control or choose a different directory, because backwards compatibility requires that C:\\Python27 remain the default for 2.7.x",
"evidence": "osv:CVE-2019-13404",
"products": [],
"severity": "high",
"structured": {
"id": "CVE-2019-13404",
"aliases": [
"CVE-2019-13404"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"repo": "https://github.com/python/cpython",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"last_affected": "413a49145e35c7a2d3a7de27c5a1828449c9b2e5"
},
{
"fixed": "2e789a1f1d84b343a996e8654590703b5fbdd441"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"extracted_events": [
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:python:python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"range": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"last_affected": "2.7.16"
}
],
"source": "CPE_RANGE"
},
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:python:python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"range": [
{
"introduced": "3.0.0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.5.0"
}
],
"source": "CPE_RANGE"
}
]
}
}
],
"versions": [
"v2.7.16",
"v2.7.16rc1",
"v2.7.15rc1",
"v2.7.13rc1",
"v2.7.12rc1",
"v2.7.11rc1",
"v3.5.0rc4",
"v3.5.0rc2",
"v3.5.0rc1",
"v3.5.0b4",
"v3.5.0b3",
"v3.5.0b1",
"v2.7.10rc1",
"v3.5.0a4",
"v3.5.0a3",
"v3.5.0a2",
"v3.5.0a1",
"v2.7.9rc1",
"v2.7.8",
"v3.4.0b3",
"v3.4.0b2",
"v3.4.0b1",
"v2.7.6rc1",
"v3.4.0a4",
"v3.4.0a3",
"v3.4.0a2",
"v3.4.0a1",
"v2.7.5",
"v2.7.4rc1",
"v3.3.0rc3",
"v3.3.0rc2",
"v3.3.0rc1",
"v3.3.0b2",
"v3.3.0b1",
"v3.3.0a4",
"v3.3.0a3",
"v3.3.0a2",
"v2.7.3rc1",
"v2.7.2rc1",
"v2.7",
"v3.2rc3",
"v3.2rc2",
"v3.2rc1",
"v3.2b2",
"v3.2b1",
"v2.7.1",
"v2.7.1rc1",
"v3.2a4",
"v3.2a3",
"v3.2a2",
"v3.2a1",
"v2.7rc2",
"v2.7rc1",
"v2.7b2",
"v2.7b1",
"v2.7a4",
"v2.7a3",
"v2.7a2",
"v2.7a1",
"v3.1",
"v3.1rc2",
"v3.1rc1",
"v3.1b1",
"v3.1a2",
"v3.1a1",
"v3.0rc3",
"v3.0rc2",
"v2.6",
"v2.6rc2",
"v3.0rc1",
"v2.6rc1",
"v3.0b3",
"v2.6b3",
"v2.6b2",
"v3.0b2",
"v2.6b1",
"v3.0b1",
"v2.6a3",
"v3.0a5",
"v2.6a2",
"v3.0a4",
"v3.0a3",
"v2.6a1",
"v3.0a2",
"v3.0a1",
"v2.5b3",
"v2.5b2",
"v2.5b1",
"v2.5a2",
"v2.5a1",
"v2.5a0",
"v2.4",
"v2.4c1",
"v2.4b2",
"v2.4b1",
"v2.4a3",
"v2.4a2",
"v2.4a1",
"v2.3c2",
"v2.3c1",
"v2.2a3",
"v2.1",
"v2.1c2",
"v2.1c1",
"v2.1b2",
"v2.1b1",
"v2.1a2",
"v2.1a1",
"v2.0",
"v2.0c1",
"v2.0b2",
"v2.0b1",
"v1.6a2",
"v1.6a1",
"v1.5.2",
"v1.5.2c1",
"v1.5.2b2",
"v1.5.2b1",
"v1.5.2a2",
"v1.5.2a1",
"v1.5.1",
"v1.5",
"v1.5b2",
"v1.5b1",
"v1.5a4",
"v1.5a3",
"v1.5a2",
"v1.5a1",
"v1.4",
"v1.4b3",
"v1.4b2",
"v1.4b1",
"v1.3",
"v1.3b1",
"v1.2",
"v1.2b4",
"v1.2b3",
"v1.2b2",
"v1.2b1",
"v1.1.1",
"v1.1",
"v1.0.2",
"v1.0.1",
"v0.9.9",
"v0.9.8"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2019-13404.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-24T10:30:39.219988936Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
"https://docs.python.org/2/faq/windows.html"
],
"provider_metadata": {}
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2019-13404",
"evidence": "/id"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 434609,
"published_at": "2019-07-08T01:15:10.247+00:00"
}