GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V is a medium-severity security vulnerability in ChatterBot (pip), affecting versions <= 1.2.13. It is fixed in 1.2.14.
Summary ChatterBot's UbuntuCorpusTrainer.extract() uses a predictable, home-rooted output directory (~/ubuntudata/ubuntudialogs) with a check-then-create pattern (if not os.path.exists: os.makedirs) followed by tar.extractall(path=self.datapath). A local attacker who pre-plants a symlink at the predictable path causes os.path.exists() to return True (following the symlink), skipping makedirs, and subsequent extractall writes archive contents through the symlink to the attacker-chosen directory. The existing safeextract function validates tar member names (zip-slip defense) but does not validate the output directory itself, it cannot detect that self.datapath is a symlink. This is the defining distinction between the archiveextraction (zip-slip) and insecurefscreatetoctou families. Vulnerability Details Predictable output directory (line 535-546) Check-then-create (line 621-622) Extraction through symlink (line 633-644) safeextract calls os.path.abspath(directory) on self.datapath, this resolves the symlink, so the base becomes the attacker's target directory. All clean-named members trivially pass iswithin_directory because they're relative to the resolved (attacker-controlled) base. Proof of Concept Environment | Component | Detail | |-----------|--------| | chatterbot | 1.2.13 (pip install) | | Python | 3.11.0 | Exploit PoC output <img width="1748" height="336" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/55a3fee5-0d3b-46d7-8e79-75aad34b322c" /> Suggested Fix Refuse symlinks on the output directory before extraction:
GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment.
A fixed version is available (1.2.14). Upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
pip
ChatterBot (<= 1.2.13)ChatterBot → 1.2.14 (pip)Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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Already deployed Kodem? See GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V in your environment →Upgrade ChatterBot to 1.2.14 or later to resolve this vulnerability.
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GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V is a medium-severity security vulnerability in ChatterBot (pip), affecting versions <= 1.2.13. It is fixed in 1.2.14.
GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V has a CVSS score of 5.5 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
ChatterBot (pip) versions <= 1.2.13 is affected.
Yes. GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V is fixed in 1.2.14. Upgrade to this version or later.
Whether GHSA-WVRH-2F4M-924V is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
Upgrade ChatterBot to 1.2.14 or later.