Reference page — cumulative record through Monday, October 19, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2020-15801

CVE-2020-15801CRITICAL

n/a n/a — In Python 3.8.4, sys.path restrictions specified in a python38._pth file are ignored, allowing code to be loaded from arbitrary locations.

  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   N   L   N   N  U  H  H  H    9.8   .0363   89.4     —

AFFECTED
  Product  Versions  Fixed
  n/a      n/a –     —

TIMELINE
  Jul 17  Reserved by mitre
  Jul 17  Published (CNA: mitre)
  Oct 14  ENRICHED — CVE-2020-15801. Received CVSS 9.8 and CPE data from NVD.

CWE-426 · CNA: mitre · CVSS v3.1 · 4 references · NVD status: Modified

Description

In Python 3.8.4, sys.path restrictions specified in a python38._pth file are ignored, allowing code to be loaded from arbitrary locations. The <executable-name>._pth file (e.g., the python._pth file) is not affected.

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
Date	Event	Detail
July 17, 2020	Reserved	Reserved by mitre
July 17, 2020	Published	Published (CNA: mitre)
October 14, 2026	ENRICHED	ENRICHED — CVE-2020-15801. Received CVSS 9.8 and CPE data from NVD.

Affected

Affected products and packages — 1 row
Vendor	Product / Package	Ecosystem	Version introduced	Fixed
n/a	n/a	—	n/a	—

Weaknesses

CWE-426

References (4)

https://bugs.python.org/issue41304 [Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory]
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html
https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/21495 [Patch, Vendor Advisory]
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200731-0003/ [Third Party Advisory]

Authoritative record: CVE-2020-15801 at cve.org

Weaknesses: CWE-426

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2020-15801 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Monday, October 19, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.