Pipenv venv discovery ignores the project's .env, so a PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME or WORKON_HOME set there leaves the Pipenv venv unpatched, patches the system Python instead, and VEX attests not_affected

[mikolalysenko]

[agent] Found by the scheduled Pipenv bug-hunt routine (ledger #313).

Summary

Pipenv loads the project's .env file before it resolves the virtualenv. Settings placed there, such as PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME=myenv or WORKON_HOME=..., move the venv on every Pipenv release from 2022.12.19 to 2026.8.0 (pipenv --venv reports $WORKON_HOME/myenv). socket-patch's Pipenv venv discovery (python_crawler.rs) reads only the process environment, so it never finds that venv.

On main 61cfb9b, an agent-mode scan --apply:

• leaves the venv Pipenv actually uses unpatched;
• falls through to the global-interpreter fallback (Agent-mode scan in a Pipenv project without a Pipenv venv patches the system Python's site-packages in place instead of the project's venv/ (regression from #388) #504) and rewrites /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/six.py in place;
• exits 0 with status: success;
• after which vex attests the GHSA as not_affected, because it verifies the (wrongly) patched system copy.

In hosted mode the same shape loses the redirect_pypi_stale_install warning: the warm .env-named venv is never probed, so pipenv install --deploy silently keeps the unpatched bytes with no hint. Exporting the same variable in the shell instead of .env works correctly in both modes. That's the control.

Impact

• A project that keeps Pipenv settings in .env stays vulnerable while socket-patch reports success, and VEX claims it's fixed (a false attestation).
• Agent mode modifies the system interpreter's site-packages, which nobody asked for (or fails with Permission denied as non-root).
• Hosted mode loses the stale-install guard.

Repro (Linux, real Pipenv, mock patch API serving a patched six 1.16.0)

export WORKON_HOME=$PWD/wh
mkdir proj && cd proj
printf '[packages]\nsix = "==1.16.0"\n' > Pipfile
echo 'PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME=myenv' > .env      # control: `export PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME=myenv` instead
pipenv install
pipenv --venv                                     # -> $WORKON_HOME/myenv
socket-patch scan --apply --json                  # status success, scannedPackages 115 (global interpreter)
pipenv run python -c "import six; print(getattr(six,'SOCKET_PATCHED',False))"   # False: venv unpatched
grep -c SOCKET_PATCHED /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/six.py                     # 1: system copy patched
socket-patch vex --product pkg:pypi/app@1.0.0     # not_affected GHSA-...

WORKON_HOME=<dir> in .env (with nothing exported) behaves the same way: Pipenv creates <dir>/proj-<hash>, and socket-patch patches the system copy.

Hosted variant: the same project, then socket-patch scan --mode hosted --json. The lock is redirected, but no redirect_pypi_stale_install fires. pipenv install --deploy keeps the unpatched six. With the variable exported, the warning fires and names $WORKON_HOME/myenv/lib/python3.x/site-packages.

Expected vs actual

• Expected: docs/testing/pipenv-compatibility.md says agent mode "patches the installed distribution in the venv Pipenv resolves for the project". It says the crawler "honours the .venv file pointer, PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME, PIPENV_PIPFILE, WORKON_HOME …" so that a scan run outside pipenv run sees the project's venv. CLI_CONTRACT's "Pipenv stale-install guard" says the guard probes "Pipenv's out-of-tree WORKON_HOME venv". Pipenv takes those settings from .env as well as from the shell (unless PIPENV_DONT_LOAD_ENV is set). If reading .env is out of scope by design, then at minimum the venv-less fallback must not patch the system interpreter, and vex must not attest.
• Actual: the .env-resolved venv is never probed. Agent mode patches the system Python, exits 0, and VEX says not_affected. Hosted mode gives no stale-install warning.

Matrix (Linux; agent scan --apply / pipenv run sees patched / vex)

Pipenv	.env PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME	exported PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME (control)	.env WORKON_HOME
2022.12.19 (py3.10)	fail: venv unpatched, system patched, vex not_affected	pass	untested
2023.12.1 (py3.11)	fail (2/2)	pass	fail
2024.4.1 (py3.12)	fail	pass	untested
2025.1.3 (py3.12)	fail	pass	untested
2026.8.0 (py3.12)	fail (2/2)	pass	fail

Hosted stale-install warning, .env vs exported: missing vs present on 2023.12.1 and 2026.8.0.

macOS / Windows: not probed. The routine's probe branches are blocked because branch deletion through the git proxy fails. The discovery code is OS-independent.

First bad version

Not a regression. The v4.0.0 release (PyPI socket-patch==4.0.0) also leaves the .env-named venv unpatched (2026.8.0, 2023.12.1). Since #388 / #504 the miss additionally patches the system interpreter and produces the false not_affected.

Suspect code

• crates/socket-patch-core/src/crawlers/python_crawler.rs:896-899: find_pipenv_virtualenv_site_packages builds var from std::env::var only, so .env is never consulted. The same var feeds pipenv_workon_home_venvs (:1186-1193, PIPENV_CUSTOM_VENV_NAME), the WORKON_HOME lookup (:991), pipenv_venv_in_project (:434) and pipenv_uses_virtual_env (:420, PIPENV_IGNORE_VIRTUALENVS).
• crates/socket-patch-core/src/utils/pipenv.rs:71-77 deliberately sets PIPENV_DONT_LOAD_ENV=1 for the version probe, treating .env as attacker-shaped input. If that's also the intent for discovery, it should be documented, and the fallback should refuse rather than patch the global interpreter (see Agent-mode scan in a Pipenv project without a Pipenv venv patches the system Python's site-packages in place instead of the project's venv/ (regression from #388) #504).

Related: #504 (a venv-less Pipenv project patches the system Python), #476 (the Poetry analogue: an out-of-tree env never probed, with a false VEX).

[mikolalysenko]

[agent] Triaged: priority:p1 (Pipenv / PyPI family). I confirmed on main (61cfb9b) that find_pipenv_virtualenv_site_packages (crates/socket-patch-core/src/crawlers/python_crawler.rs:896-898) builds its environment lookup from std::env::var only, so the project's .env is never read. Not a duplicate. It's related to #504: the system-interpreter fallback is what turns this miss into a false not_affected. The two have different root causes (#504 is the venv-less fallback, this one is .env not being loaded), so I'm cross-linking them rather than clustering. No open PR covers this. #540 handles the uv/PDM env discovery only.

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