Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2025-4742

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
55/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in XU-YIJIE grpo-flat up to 9024b43f091e2eb9bac65802b120c0b35f9ba856. Affected is the function main of the file grpo_vanilla.py. The manipulation leads to deserialization. Local access is required to approach this attack. Continious delivery with rolling releases is used by this product. Therefore, no version details of affected nor updated releases are available.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A deserialization vulnerability exists in the main() function of grpo_vanilla.py in the grpo-flat project up to commit 9024b43. The vulnerability allows unsafe deserialization, which can lead to code execution or data manipulation attacks. Local access is required to exploit this issue.

MitigationImplement secure deserialization practices: avoid pickle or similar unsafe deserialization methods, use safer alternatives like JSON, or add strict input validation and authentication checks around deserialization operations.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate the grpo_vanilla.py file in your environment
    Search for grpo_vanilla.py in your Python environment using: find / -name 'grpo_vanilla.py' 2>/dev/null or pip show grpo-flat and inspect the package installation path
    Affected if The file exists and is part of your installed grpo-flat package
  2. Identify the installed version of the grpo-flat package
    Run 'pip show grpo-flat' or check the git commit of the installed package by navigating to the package directory and running 'git log -1 --oneline'
    Affected if The package is at commit 9024b43 or earlier, or the version cannot be determined (treat as potentially vulnerable)
  3. Inspect the main() function for unsafe deserialization
    Open grpo_vanilla.py and examine the main() function for uses of pickle.load(), pickle.loads(), yaml.unsafe_load(), or similar deserialization methods without strict validation
    Affected if The main() function contains pickle or other unsafe deserialization calls that process untrusted data
  4. Check if the vulnerable code path is reachable
    Review how main() is invoked in your deployment - check if it is called directly, used as a CLI entry point, or imported by other modules that you use
    Affected if The main() function is reachable through your application workflow or CLI usage
  5. Verify local access context
    Confirm whether untrusted input files or data can be passed to the grpo-flat application locally (e.g., through command-line arguments, configuration files, or API calls)
    Affected if Local users can provide input that reaches the vulnerable deserialization in main()

You are affected if grpo_vanilla.py is present in your environment, the grpo-flat package is at commit 9024b43 or earlier, and the main() function uses unsafe deserialization with reachable local input.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement secure deserialization practices: avoid pickle or similar unsafe deserialization methods, use safer alternatives like JSON, or add strict input validation and authentication checks around deserialization operations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-4742 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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