Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2011-1521

The urllib and urllib2 modules in Python 2.x before 2.7.2 and 3.x before 3.2.1 process Location headers that specify redirection to file: URLs, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain sensitive information or cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via a crafted URL, as demonstrated by the file:///etc/passwd and file:///dev/zero URLs.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2011-1521 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 1 product from python organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2011, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2011-05-24T23:55:02.840

Last Modified

2025-04-11T00:51:21.963

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 6.4 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

4.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-399

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	python	python	2.0	Yes
Application	python	python	2.0.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.1.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.1.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.1.3	Yes
Application	python	python	2.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.2.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.2.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.2.3	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.3	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.4	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.5	Yes
Application	python	python	2.3.7	Yes
Application	python	python	2.4.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.4.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.4.3	Yes
Application	python	python	2.4.4	Yes
Application	python	python	2.4.6	Yes
Application	python	python	2.5.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.5.2	Yes
Application	python	python	2.5.3	Yes
Application	python	python	2.5.4	Yes
Application	python	python	2.6.1	Yes
Application	python	python	2.6.4	Yes
Application	python	python	2.6.5	Yes
Application	python	python	2.6.6	Yes
Application	python	python	2.6.7	Yes
Application	python	python	2.7.1	Yes
Application	python	python	3.0	Yes
Application	python	python	3.0.1	Yes
Application	python	python	3.1	Yes
Application	python	python	3.1.1	Yes
Application	python	python	3.1.2	Yes
Application	python	python	3.1.3	Yes
Application	python	python	3.2	Yes
Application	python	python	3.2	Yes

References

http://bugs.python.org/issue11662 Patch ([email protected])
http://hg.python.org/cpython/file/96a6c128822b/Misc/NEWS ([email protected])
http://hg.python.org/cpython/file/b2934d98dac1/Misc/NEWS ([email protected])
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/96a6c128822b/ Patch ([email protected])
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/b2934d98dac1/ Patch ([email protected])
http://lists.apple.com/archives/Security-announce/2011//Oct/msg00003.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2011-05/msg00005.html ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/24/5 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/28/2 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/11/1 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/13/2 ([email protected])
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/15/5 ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/50858 ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/51024 ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/51040 ([email protected])
http://securitytracker.com/id?1025488 ([email protected])
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5002 ([email protected])
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:096 ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1592-1 ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1596-1 ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-1 ([email protected])
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-2 ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=690560 Patch ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=737366 ([email protected])
https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2011/sep/09/ ([email protected])
https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2011/sep/10/127/ ([email protected])
http://bugs.python.org/issue11662 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://hg.python.org/cpython/file/96a6c128822b/Misc/NEWS (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://hg.python.org/cpython/file/b2934d98dac1/Misc/NEWS (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/96a6c128822b/ Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/b2934d98dac1/ Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.apple.com/archives/Security-announce/2011//Oct/msg00003.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2011-05/msg00005.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/24/5 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/03/28/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/11/1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/13/2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2011/09/15/5 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/50858 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/51024 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/51040 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://securitytracker.com/id?1025488 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5002 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2011:096 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1592-1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1596-1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-1613-2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=690560 Patch (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=737366 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2011/sep/09/ (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.djangoproject.com/weblog/2011/sep/10/127/ (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For python's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.