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CVE-2025-2000VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-2000: IBM Qiskit SDK · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Affects IBM Qiskit SDKSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
9.8Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 56% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Mar 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
PyPIqiskitpkg:pypi/qiskitOther threatsAffected
  • =0.18.0
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-2000, organizations should immediately cease loading QPY files from untrusted or unauthenticated sources in affected Qiskit versions (0.18.0 through 1.4.1). Until patches or updated versions are available, implement strict file validation and sandboxing measures to isolate the deserialization process. Employ application whitelisting and runtime monitoring to detect anomalous Python code execution during QPY file loading. Upgrade to the latest Qiskit SDK versions where this vulnerability has been addressed as soon as official patches are released. Additionally, conduct thorough code reviews and security testing of any custom extensions or integrations that utilize QPY deserialization. Educate developers and users about the risks of deserializing untrusted data and enforce policies restricting the use of unverified QPY files. Network segmentation and least privilege principles should be applied to limit the impact of potential exploitation. Finally, maintain up-to-date threat intelligence to detect any emerging exploits targeting this vulnerability.

Description

A maliciously crafted QPY file can potential execute arbitrary-code embedded in the payload without privilege escalation when deserialising QPY formats < 13. A python process calling Qiskit 0.18.0 through 1.4.1's `qiskit.qpy.load()` function could potentially execute any arbitrary Python code embedded in the correct place in the binary file as part of specially constructed payload.

References

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