No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2019-20907

Q: Is CVE-2019-20907 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-20907 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 3.0% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Q: What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-20907?

CVE-2019-20907 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

Published2020-07-13
WeaknessCWE-835

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

In Lib/tarfile.py in Python through 3.8.3, an attacker is able to craft a TAR archive leading to an infinite loop when opened by tarfile.open, because _proc_pax lacks header validation.

Timeline

dates in UTC

2020-07-1313:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC

Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days

Block these indicators

Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-20907?format=txt
CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2019-20907?format=csv
TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD

Canonical ubuntu linux

Branch	Affected	Fixed in	Source
12.4	= 12.04	no fix published	NVD
14.4	= 14.04	no fix published	NVD
16.4	= 16.04	no fix published	NVD
18.4	= 18.04	no fix published	NVD
20.4	= 20.04	no fix published	NVD

Python

Branch	Affected	Fixed in	Source
3.8	≥ 3.8.0, < 3.8.5	3.8.5	NVD
3.7	≥ 3.7.0, < 3.7.9	3.7.9	NVD
3.6	≥ 3.6.0, < 3.6.12	3.6.12	NVD
3.5	≥ 3.5.0, < 3.5.10	3.5.10	NVD

Fedoraproject fedora

Branch	Affected	Fixed in	Source
31.x	= 31	no fix published	NVD
32.x	= 32	no fix published	NVD

5 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

python-sqlalchemy-docAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 1.3.2-2.module_el8.5.0+2569+5c5719bc
python2-attrsAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 17.4.0-10.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13
python2-chardetAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 3.0.4-10.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13
python2-coverageAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 4.5.1-4.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13
python2-CythonAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 0.28.1-7.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13
python2-dnsAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 1.15.0-10.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13
python2-docsAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 2.7.16-2.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13and 1 other package
python2-docutilsAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 0.14-12.module_el8.6.0+2781+fed64c13

32 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Full record on NVD

Fix

Advisories and patches

bugs.python.orgVendor Advisory
github.comPatch
www.oracle.comPatch

Detection

Nuclei template: none so far
Exploit-DB: no entry
Proof-of-concept repositories: none listed

Sources

CISA-ADPSSVC decisionnone2026-10-07
OpenCVESSVC decisionnone—
CISA-ADPCVSS 3.15.52026-10-07
NVDCVSS 3.17.5read 2026-10-23
NVDCVSS 2.05read 2026-10-23
CISA-ADPweakness (CWE)CWE-8352026-10-07
NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-835read 2026-10-23
FIRST EPSSEPSS score3.0 %2026-10-22
OSVaffected packages—

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published: 2020-07-13
Last Modified: 2026-10-14
NVD status: Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-20907?

In Lib/tarfile.py in Python through 3.8.3, an attacker is able to craft a TAR archive leading to an infinite loop when opened by tarfile.open, because _proc_pax lacks header validation.

Is CVE-2019-20907 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-20907 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 3.0% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-20907?

CVE-2019-20907 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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