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CVE Record

CVE-2020-29128: petl before 1.68, in some configurations, allows resolution of entities in an XML document.

petl before 1.68, in some configurations, allows resolution of entities in an XML document.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2020-29128 affects petl, a Python data processing library. Older versions could resolve entities in XML documents in some configurations. For a business, the risk is concentrated where petl processes XML from untrusted sources, because entity resolution can expose unintended data or trigger unsafe network/file access depending on configuration.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted dependency remediation item, not an emergency, unless petl processes untrusted XML in business-critical systems. Prioritize upgrades and exposure mapping for data ingestion pipelines.

Technical view

The CVE states that petl before the fixed 1.6.8-era release allowed XML entity resolution in some configurations. The source bundle does not provide CVSS, CWE, or detailed affected CPEs. Exposure should be assessed by locating petl XML parsing paths and confirming whether untrusted XML can reach them.

Likely exposure

Systems are likely exposed if they use petl versions before the fixed release and parse XML supplied by users, partners, feeds, uploads, queues, or other untrusted sources.

Exploitation context

CISA KEV status is false in the bundle, and no cited source here confirms active exploitation. The practical risk depends on application XML input paths and parser behavior. Evidence is incomplete for exploit prevalence, impact severity, and default configuration exposure.

Researcher notes

The bundle’s affected metadata is sparse and lists no CVSS or CWE. The version text says “before 1.68,” while project references compare v1.6.7 to v1.6.8, so validate exact package versions against upstream advisory material.

Mitigation direction

  • Upgrade petl to the fixed release identified by the project advisory and changelog.
  • Inventory applications and jobs that import petl and process XML.
  • Avoid sending untrusted XML to vulnerable petl XML parsing paths.
  • Check the GitHub advisory and changelog for vendor-specific guidance.
  • Add dependency monitoring for petl in Python lockfiles and build manifests.

Validation and detection

  • Identify installed petl versions across production, CI, containers, and scheduled jobs.
  • Review code for petl XML read or parse functions handling external input.
  • Confirm whether XML inputs are user, partner, feed, queue, or file-upload controlled.
  • Verify upgraded environments no longer run petl versions before the fixed release.
  • Record compensating controls where immediate upgrade is not possible.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
7

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
8Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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