CVE-2024-3220: 
Python Interpreter vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2024-3220 is a low severity vulnerability affecting CPython's standard library module 'mimetypes'. The vulnerability was discovered and disclosed on February 14, 2025. The issue specifically affects Windows systems where the default list of known file locations are writable, potentially allowing other users to manipulate mime type configurations (Python Security).

The vulnerability stems from a defect in the CPython standard library module 'mimetypes' where the default locations of Linux and macOS platforms (such as '/etc/mime.types') are also being used on Windows. On Windows systems, these locations (e.g., 'C:\etc\mime.types') are user-writable, creating a security risk. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 5.4 (MEDIUM) with a vector of CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L (NetApp Security).

When successfully exploited, this vulnerability can lead to two potential impacts: causing MemoryError to be raised on Python runtime startup or having file extensions be interpreted as the incorrect file type. This can result in addition or modification of data or Denial of Service (DoS) (Openwall, NetApp Security).

A temporary workaround has been provided: users can call mimetypes.init() with an empty list ('[]') on Windows platforms to avoid using the default list of known file locations. No permanent patch is available yet, and the CVE will be updated once there is a fixed version (Openwall).