CVE-2025-4516 · cross-distro fix matrix

CVE-2025-4516: There is an issue in CPython when using `bytes.decode("unicode_escape", error="ignore|replace")`. If you are not using the "unicode_escape" encoding or an error handler your usage is not affected. To work-around this issue you may stop using the error= handler and instead wrap the bytes.decode() cal

Affects 7 Linux releases across 7 (distro × package) combinations.

Fix per ecosystem

Each block below is a distro release where CVE-2025-4516 has a known fix. Run the listed command on that distro to remediate.

Debian bullseye

Source: Debian Security Tracker

python3.9→ fixed in3.9.2-1+deb11u4urgency: not yet assigned
```
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y python3.9
```

Debian trixie

Source: Debian Security Tracker

python3.13→ fixed in3.13.3-4urgency: not yet assigned
```
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade -y python3.13
```

Alpine v3.20

Source: Alpine secdb

python3→ fixed in3.12.10-r1
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade python3
```

Alpine v3.21

Source: Alpine secdb

python3→ fixed in3.12.10-r1
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade python3
```

Alpine edge

Source: Alpine secdb

python3→ fixed in3.12.10-r1
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade python3
```

Alpine v3.18

Source: Alpine secdb

python3→ fixed in3.11.12-r1
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade python3
```

Alpine v3.19

Source: Alpine secdb

python3→ fixed in3.11.12-r1
```
apk update && apk add --upgrade python3
```

Are YOU affected by CVE-2025-4516?

5-second check on your actual server. Reads /etc/os-release, uname -r, and the distro's package manager; matches against this same cross-source index live.

curl https://mindsparkstack.com/scan.sh | bash

Form-based quickscan View on NVD

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