Open-Source Security Intelligence

Know every vulnerability
before it knows you.

DevGuard continuously monitors your dependencies and alerts you when CVEs like this one affect your stack — with real-time threat intelligence built for developers.

Search

CVE-2020-5252

MediumCVSS 4.1 / 10
Published Mar 23, 2020·Last modified Apr 10, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

The command-line "safety" package for Python has a potential security issue. There are two Python characteristics that allow malicious code to “poison-pill” command-line Safety package detection routines by disguising, or obfuscating, other malicious or non-secure packages. This vulnerability is considered to be of low severity because the attack makes use of an existing Python condition, not the Safety tool itself. This can happen if: You are running Safety in a Python environment that you don’t trust. You are running Safety from the same Python environment where you have your dependencies installed. Dependency packages are being installed arbitrarily or without proper verification. Users can mitigate this issue by doing any of the following: Perform a static analysis by installing Docker and running the Safety Docker image: $ docker run --rm -it pyupio/safety check -r requirements.txt Run Safety against a static dependencies list, such as the requirements.txt file, in a separate, clean Python environment. Run Safety from a Continuous Integration pipeline. Use PyUp.io, which runs Safety in a controlled environment and checks Python for dependencies without any need to install them. Use PyUp's Online Requirements Checker.

Risk Scores
Base Score
4.1

The vulnerability requires local access to the device to be exploited. It is difficult for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability and may require special conditions. An attacker needs high-level or administrative privileges. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data.

Threat Intelligence
3.8

Limited exploitation activity has been observed. Close monitoring and planned remediation are recommended.

EPSS
0.37%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

Scan your project

Continuously monitor your dependencies and get alerted when vulnerabilities like this one affect your stack.

Checkout DevGuard