CVE-2026-118938: trailofbits fickling · Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference
Affects trailofbits ficklingSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.8 High.
Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 21:51 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (BombadilSystems) | CVSS 3.1 | 8.8 |
|---|
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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 30 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trailofbitsfickling | Affected
| Fixed in– |
PyPIficklingpkg:pypi/ficklingOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
Users should avoid loading untrusted pickle data with fickling.load() until a fix is released. The vendor's recent blocklist and heuristic improvements do not mitigate this issue. Monitoring vendor advisories for updates and applying any future patches promptly is recommended.
Description
Trail of Bits fickling versions up to 0.1.12 contain a vulnerability where a pickle STACK_GLOBAL operand with a dotted __qualname__ is incorrectly resolved to an arbitrary attribute path instead of a module-level function. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code by loading a crafted pickle that reaches the optparse.Values.read_file method, which executes code from a file. The vulnerability bypasses fickling's safety checks because the trailing attribute reference is not analyzed or flagged. The issue remains unpatched as of the latest vendor commit on 2026-10-30.