In PyInstaller before version 3.6, only on Windows, a local privilege escalation vulnerability is present in this particular case: If a software using PyInstaller in "onefile" mode is launched by a privileged user (at least more than the current one) which have his "TempPath" resolving to a world writable directory. This is the case for example if the software is launched as a service or as a scheduled task using a system account (TempPath will be C:\Windows\Temp). In order to be exploitable the software has to be (re)started after the attacker launch the exploit program, so for a service launched at startup, a service restart is needed (e.g. after a crash or an upgrade).
https://github.com/pyinstaller/pyinstaller/security/advisories/GHSA-7fcj-pq9j-wh2r
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2026-06-17
Base Score: 4.4
Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Severity: Medium
Base Score: 7.8
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Severity: High
Base Score: 7.7
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Severity: High
EPSS: 0.04047