Vulnerability PYSEC-2026-2044

Werkzeug's safe_join function allows path segments with Windows device names that have file extensions or trailing spaces. On Windows, there are special device names such as CON, AUX, etc that are implicitly present and readable in every directory. Windows still accepts them with any file extension, such as CON.txt, or trailing spaces such as CON .

This was previously reported as https://github.com/pallets/werkzeug/security/advisories/GHSA-hgf8-39gv-g3f2, but the fix failed to account for compound extensions such as CON.txt.html or trailing spaces. It also missed some additional special names.

send_from_directory uses safe_join to safely serve files at user-specified paths under a directory. If the application is running on Windows, and the requested path ends with a special device name, the file will be opened successfully, but reading will hang indefinitely.