CVE-2025-71340VulnerabilityPublished 26 Aug 2025Updated 3 Nov 2026

Picklescan is missing detection when calling built-in python idlelib.pyshell.ModifiedInterpreter.runcode

Affects picklescanSource GCVE Database

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.1 High : upgrade to 0.0.30 soon.

Data as of 3 Nov 2026, 19:28 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.1High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Patch: Available – fixed in 0.0.30

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 26 Aug 2025
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 3 Nov 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade picklescan to 0.0.30.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
PyPIpicklescan	Affected <0.0.30	Fixed in 0.0.30

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

AI-suggested

A fix is available in Picklescan version 0.0.30. Users should upgrade to version 0.0.30 or later to mitigate this vulnerability. No additional mitigation steps are indicated beyond applying the official patch.

Description

Picklescan versions prior to 0.0.30 fail to detect malicious payloads that exploit the idlelib.pyshell.ModifiedInterpreter.runcode function during pickle deserialization. This allows attackers to embed and execute arbitrary code when a malicious pickle file is loaded, posing a risk to any user relying on Picklescan for safety checks on pickle files, including those in PyTorch models. The vulnerability enables potential supply chain attacks by distributing infected pickle files across machine learning models and Python objects.

Impact

Attackers can execute arbitrary code remotely by embedding malicious payloads in pickle files that bypass Picklescan's detection. This impacts any organization or individual using Picklescan to validate pickle files, especially in contexts such as PyTorch models. The vulnerability facilitates supply chain attacks by allowing infected pickle files to propagate through machine learning models, APIs, or saved Python objects, potentially compromising systems that load these files.

Summary

The vulnerability in Picklescan arises from its inability to detect malicious use of the built-in Python function idlelib.pyshell.ModifiedInterpreter.runcode during pickle deserialization. An attacker crafts a payload that uses the reduce method to call this function, embedding arbitrary code execution within a pickle file. When Picklescan fails to flag this payload as dangerous, the victim may load the pickle file with pickle.load(), resulting in remote code execution. This flaw affects Picklescan versions before 0.0.30 and is tracked as CVE-2025-71340 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.1 (high severity).

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumCWE Top 25 (2025): #15OWASP Top 10 A08:2025: Software or Data Integrity Failures (opens in a new tab)
The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.
Architecture and Design · Implementation
If available, use the signing/sealing features of the programming language to assure that deserialized data has not been tainted. For example, a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) could be used to ensure that data has not been modified.
Implementation
When deserializing data, populate a new object rather than just deserializing. The result is that the data flows through safe input validation and that the functions are safe.
Implementation
Explicitly define a final object() to prevent deserialization.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Software Supply Chain Security (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
V5.5.3 (opens in a new tab)
V5.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Object Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Nov 2026, 19:28 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-502

Technical details

References

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