Unsafe Deserialization in BabelDOC (CVE-2026-54071)
Summary
Vulnerability in BabelDOC (CVE-2026-54071). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via psparser._parse_literal_hex. Mitigation: upgrade to 0.6.3 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
Arbitrary Code Execution via CMap Pickle Deserialization in babeldoc/pdfminer/cmapdb.py
Summary
BabelDOC's vendored PDF parser (babeldoc/pdfminer/cmapdb.py) deserializes untrusted pickle data when loading CMap files. The _load_data() method strips only NUL bytes from a PDF-controlled CMap name, then passes it directly to os.path.join() and pickle.loads(). Because Python's os.path.join() discards all preceding path components when it encounters an absolute path segment, an attacker who embeds a hex-encoded absolute path in a crafted PDF's /Encoding name (e.g., /#2Ftmp#2Fattacker#2Fevil) can redirect deserialization to any attacker-writable .pickle.gz file on the local system. Processing such a PDF results in arbitrary Python code execution with the privileges of the BabelDOC process.
Details
The vulnerable function is CMapDB._load_data() at babeldoc/pdfminer/cmapdb.py:232–245:
@classmethod
def _load_data(cls, name: str) -> Any:
name = name.replace("\0", "") # line 233 — only NUL is stripped
filename = "%s.pickle.gz" % name # line 234 — attacker-controlled string
...
for directory in cmap_paths:
path = os.path.join(directory, filename) # line 241 — no realpath/canonical check
if os.path.exists(path):
gzfile = gzip.open(path)
try:
return type(str(name), (), pickle.loads(gzfile.read())) # line 245 — unconditional pickle
**Path injection via…
Source: GitHub Security Advisories (Global) NVD GitHub Advisory
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-2026-54071 has been found in BabelDOC.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like psparser._parse_literal_hex over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.8/10.
What to do: upgrade BabelDOC to 0.6.3 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "BabelDOC CVE-2026-54071" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-54071 (BabelDOC) — CWE-502 / CVSS v3 7.8
Attack vector: local / unauthenticated
Attack surface: psparser._parse_literal_hex / directory / cmap_paths / translation_config.input_file
Patched: 0.6.3 — 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.
Unsafe deserialization (CWE-502) exists in BabelDOC. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via psparser._parse_literal_hex without authentication.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of BabelDOC. Attack surface: psparser._parse_literal_hex / directory / cmap_paths / translation_config.input_file.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 0.6.3.
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 'BabelDOC' . 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 'BabelDOC' . | 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
BabelDOC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 BabelDOC to 0.6.3ステージング環境で 0.6.3 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。