Critical

Unsafe yaml deserialization in NVFlare

  • Disclosed: 22.06.2022
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 13:19

Impact

NVFLARE contains a vulnerability in its utils module, where YAML files are loaded via yaml.load() instead of yaml.safe_load(). The deserialization of Untrusted Data, may allow an unprivileged network attacker to cause Remote Code Execution, Denial Of Service, and Impact to both Confidentiality and Integrity.

All versions before 2.1.2 are affected. CVSS Score = 9.8 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Patches

The patch will be included in nvflare==2.1.2

Workarounds

Change yaml.load() to yaml.safe_load()

Additional information

Issue Found by: Oliver Sellwood (@Nintorac)

Affected software

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PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) nvflare < 2.1.2 2.1.2

References

CVSS score 9.8/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-502
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
nvflare
Disclosed
22.06.2022
Updated
11.10.2026 13:19

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2022-232 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-hrf3-622q-8366 - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: nvflare

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

Total entries
5
First → latest
03.2022 04.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 4
  • High 1

Disclosures per year

  1. 2022: 4
  2. 2023: 0
  3. 2024: 0
  4. 2025: 0
  5. 2026: 1
  1. Critical · 9.8 CVE-2022-34668 < 2.1.4 2.1.4
  2. Unsafe yaml deserialization in NVFlare this entry
    Critical · 9.8 CVE-2022-31605 < 2.1.2 2.1.2
  3. Critical · 9.8 CVE-2022-31604 < 2.1.2 2.1.2
  4. High · 7.5 CVE-2022-21822 < 2.0.16 2.0.16

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