Security Bulletin: WML CE: pip (all versions) because it installs the version with the highest version number, even if the user had intended to obtain a private package from a private index

Summary

DISPUTED An issue was discovered in pip (all versions) because it installs the version with the highest version number, even if the user had intended to obtain a private package from a private index. This only affects use of the --extra-index-url option, and exploitation requires that the package does not already exist in the public index (and thus the attacker can put the package there with an arbitrary version number). NOTE: it has been reported that this is intended functionality and the user is responsible for using --extra-index-url securely.

Vulnerability Details

Refer to the security bulletin(s) listed in the Remediation/Fixes section

Affected Products and Versions

Remediation/Fixes

Although this issue affects versions of pip shipped with WML CE, IBM does not consider this to be a security vulnerability because per the pip documentation, this is intended behavior of pip when using the --extra-index-url flag.

CVE-2018-20225

Workarounds and Mitigations

To protect from any unintended behavior, use --index-url and do not use --extra-index-url OR explicitly set --index-url and use --extra-index-url.