Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw lets a malicious pickle file slip past affected picklescan checks and still execute code when an application later loads it. The business risk is supply-chain or data-ingestion compromise where teams trust picklescan as a gate before handling untrusted pickle artifacts.
Executive priority
Treat this as high priority if the organization ingests third-party pickle or ML artifacts. The concern is not broad internet exposure, but a trusted scanning control failing before unsafe deserialization. Patch and review affected ingestion workflows promptly.
Technical view
picklescan before 0.0.30 did not detect cProfile.runctx calls inside pickle reduce methods. A crafted pickle could bypass detection, then trigger arbitrary code execution when deserialized with pickle.load(). The issue maps to CWE-502 and has CVSS 8.1.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where picklescan is used to screen pickle files from users, partners, model repositories, CI jobs, or other untrusted sources before deserialization. Systems that do not process pickle files, or do not rely on affected picklescan versions, are unlikely to be exposed.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires a victim workflow that loads a malicious pickle file after relying on affected picklescan detection. User interaction is represented as required in the CVSS vector.
Researcher notes
The evidence identifies a detection bypass in picklescan tied to cProfile.runctx inside reduce methods. Do not assume compromise from version presence alone; validate whether scanned pickle artifacts are later loaded. The bundle provides no exploit telemetry beyond the vulnerability description.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory uses of picklescan and confirm installed versions.
- Upgrade picklescan to 0.0.30 or later, per advisory direction.
- Avoid deserializing pickle files from untrusted or unauthenticated sources.
- Add controls around model and artifact ingestion pipelines.
- Check vendor guidance for any additional mitigations or backports.
Validation and detection
- Search dependency manifests and lockfiles for picklescan versions below 0.0.30.
- Review pipelines that scan pickle files before loading them.
- Confirm untrusted pickle files are rejected or isolated before deserialization.
- Verify production and CI environments use the updated package.
- Look for historical accepted pickle artifacts from untrusted sources.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-502: Code execution behavior lookup
Code execution and unsafe deserialization weaknesses often justify reviewing execution behavior and process telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2025-71378 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N2.85.2VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——VulnCheckVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
7.6HighVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- GHSA Advisory GHSA-9w88-8rmg-7g2pCVE reference, VulnCheck · vendor-advisory
- VulnCheck Advisory: picklescan - Remote Code Execution via Undetected cProfile.runctx in Pickle FilesCVE reference, VulnCheck · third-party-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Deserialization of Untrusted Data represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.