vLLM Allows Remote Code Execution via Mooncake Integration
Summary
When vLLM is configured to use Mooncake, unsafe deserialization exposed directly over ZMQ/TCP will allow attackers to execute remote code on distributed hosts.
Details
- Pickle deserialization vulnerabilities are well documented.
- The mooncake pipe is exposed over the network (by design to enable disaggregated prefilling across distributed environments) using ZMQ over TCP, greatly increasing exploitability.
Further, the mooncake integration opens these sockets listening on all interfaces on the host, meaning it can not be configured to only use a private, trusted network.
Only sender_socket and receiver_ack are allowed to be accessed publicly, while the data actually decompressed by pickle.loads() comes from recv_bytes. Its interface is defined as self.receiver_socket.connect(f\"tcp://{d_host}:{d_rank_offset + 1}\"), where d_host is decode_host, a locally defined address 192.168.0.139,from mooncake.json (https://github.com/kvcache-ai/Mooncake/blob/main/doc/en/vllm-integration-v0.2.md?plain=1#L36).
- The root problem is
recv_tensor()calls_recv_implwhich passes the raw network bytes topickle.loads(). Additionally, it does not appear that there are any controls (network, authentication, etc) to prevent arbitrary users from sending this payload to the affected service.
Impact
This is a remote code execution vulnerability impacting any deployments using Mooncake to distribute KV across distributed hosts.
Remediation
This issue is resolved by https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/pull/14228
Affected software
Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.
| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Python (PyPI) | vllm | >= 0.6.5, < 0.8.0 | 0.8.0 |
References
- https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/pull/14228
- https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/security/advisories/GHSA-x3m8-f7g5-qhm7
- https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/commit/288ca110f68d23909728627d3100e5a8db820aa2
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-29783
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/vllm/PYSEC-2025-63.yaml
- https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-502- Platform
- Python (PyPI)
- Package
vllm- Disclosed
- 19.03.2025
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 14:19
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2025-63 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-x3m8-f7g5-qhm7 - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: vllm
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
- 94
- First → latest
- 09.2024 10.2026
- Without a fix
- 5
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 9
- High 23
- Medium 47
- Low 4
- Unrated 11
Disclosures per year
- 2024: 2
- 2025: 30
- 2026: 62
-
vLLM Allows Remote Code Execution via Mooncake Integration this entry
Know which vulnerabilities affect your application
With the DockRay integration and software inventory enabled, DockRay checks reported component versions against known vulnerabilities and notifies you about confirmed matches. Coverage depends on the supported technology and available advisory data.