Python 3.13 Update Fixes Header Injection Vulnerability

A recent update to the Python 3.13 package has fixed a security vulnerability that allowed for header injection in email headers. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2024-6923, was discovered in the email module of the Python standard library.

According to the Fedora Project, the vulnerability allowed an attacker to inject malicious headers into emails, potentially leading to security issues. The update, which is available for Fedora 39, fixes the issue by properly quoting newlines in email headers.

In addition to the security fix, the update also addresses a SystemError in the PyEval_GetLocals() function. This error was causing issues for some users and has now been resolved.

The update can be installed using the dnf update program. Users can run the command su -c 'dnf upgrade --advisory FEDORA-2024-c452738920' to install the update.

For more information on the update, including the changelog and references, please see the Fedora Update Notification.

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What is Python 3.13?

Python 3.13 is an accessible, high-level, dynamically typed, interpreted programming language, designed with an emphasis on code readability. It includes an extensive standard library and has a vast ecosystem of third-party libraries.

The python3.13 package provides the “python3.13” executable, which is the reference interpreter for the Python language, version 3. The majority of its standard library is provided in the python3.13-libs package, which should be installed automatically along with python3.13. The remaining parts of the Python standard library are broken out into the python3.13-tkinter and python3.13-test packages, which may need to be installed separately.

Documentation and Resources

Documentation for Python is provided in the python3.13-docs package. Packages containing additional libraries for Python are generally named with the “python3.13-” prefix.

For more information on Python, including documentation and resources, please see the Python website.

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Conclusion

The update to Python 3.13 is an important security fix that addresses a vulnerability in the email module. Users are encouraged to install the update as soon as possible to ensure the security of their systems. Additionally, the update includes a fix for a SystemError in the PyEval_GetLocals() function, which should resolve issues for some users.