Disallow ability to create a conda env with : in the prefix (#13044)

Co-authored-by: Daniel Holth <dholth@anaconda.com>
Co-authored-by: Ken Odegard <kodegard@anaconda.com>
Co-authored-by: pre-commit-ci[bot] <66853113+pre-commit-ci[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

conda/cli/install.py

@@ -50,6 +50,10 @@
 
 
 def check_prefix(prefix, json=False):
+    if os.pathsep in prefix:
+        raise CondaValueError(
+            f"Cannot create a conda environment with '{os.pathsep}' in the prefix. Aborting."
+        )
     name = basename(prefix)
     error = None
     if name == ROOT_ENV_NAME:

news/12749-no-colon-in-prefix

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+### Enhancements
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Bug fixes
+
+* Disallow ability to create a conda environment with a colon in the prefix. (#13044)
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Docs
+
+* <news item>
+
+### Other
+
+* <news item>

tests/conda_env/test_create.py

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 # Copyright (C) 2012 Anaconda, Inc
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+from os import environ
 from pathlib import Path
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 import pytest
 from pytest import MonkeyPatch
 
 from conda.base.context import context, reset_context
+from conda.common.compat import on_win
 from conda.core.prefix_data import PrefixData
+from conda.exceptions import CondaValueError
 from conda.testing import CondaCLIFixture
-from conda.testing.integration import package_is_installed
+from conda.testing.integration import Commands, package_is_installed, run_command
 
 from . import support_file
 from .utils import make_temp_envs_dir
@@ -250,3 +253,18 @@ def test_create_update_remote_env_file(
         # This ends up sticking around since there is no real way of knowing that an environment
         # variable _used_ to be in the variables dict, but isn't any more.
         assert env_vars["GETS_DELETED"] == "not_actually_removed_though"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(on_win, reason="Test is invalid on Windows")
+def test_fail_to_create_env_in_dir_with_colon(
+    tmp_path: Path, conda_cli: CondaCLIFixture
+):
+    # Add a directory with a colon
+    colon_dir = tmp_path / "fake:dir"
+    colon_dir.mkdir()
+
+    with pytest.raises(
+        CondaValueError,
+        match="Cannot create a conda environment with ':' in the prefix.",
+    ):
+        conda_cli("create", f"--prefix={colon_dir}/tester")