CVE-2026-112938: filelock is a platform-independent file lock for Python.

filelock is a platform-independent file lock for Python.

filelock is a platform-independent file lock for Python. From 3.30.0 until 4.2.1, On POSIX platforms, StrictSoftFileLock and AsyncStrictSoftFileLock validate the coordination directory in _ensure_protocol_directory but later reach the claims directory through _open_directory by pathname, allowing a local account that can rename the coordination name to swap in a symbolic link between check and use during acquisition. That race can create and leave claim files in another writable directory or strand claims in a different strict lock so the second lock times out. Separately, the claims property and force_break follow a resting symbolic link without a race when the lock user inspects or recovers the lock. Claims inspection discloses a file name to the other account only if the resulting exception text or claim_name reaches that account through a shared log, CI output, or error report. A blind force_break recovery that removes live claims from another strict lock can allow two processes into that lock's critical section; this path reaches other strict locks, not arbitrary files. This issue is fixed in version 4.2.1.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by GitHub

What it means for a small business

If your business uses filelock, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.11%, higher than 1% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored November 6, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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