Deserialization of Untrusted DataWeakness · CWE-502

CVE-2025-54923

HIGH · 8.7 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-08-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability exists that could cause remote code execution and compromise of system integrity when authenticated users send crafted data to a network-exposed service that performs unsafe deserialization.

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

CWE-502 unsafe deserialization vulnerability in a network-exposed service allows authenticated attackers to send specially crafted serialized data that, when deserialized without proper validation, enables remote code execution and system integrity compromise.

MitigationImplement safe deserialization by validating input against a whitelist of allowed types, using safer serialization formats (JSON, XML without external entities), or employing deserialization libraries with built-in protections; ensure all deserialization operations occur with strict type checking and minimal privilege.

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Identify network-exposed services using serialization
    Review all network-facing services and APIs for code or configuration that uses Java deserialization, Python pickle, .NET BinaryFormatter, PHP unserialize, or similar serialization mechanisms
    Affected if A service accepts serialized data from network clients without validation
  2. Locate deserialization operations in code
    Search codebases for patterns like ObjectInputStream, pickle.load, BinaryFormatter.Deserialize, unserialize(), YAML.load, or JSON deserialization libraries used with untrusted input
    Affected if Deserialization of data from untrusted network sources occurs without validation
  3. Verify input validation on deserialization
    Inspect deserialization code for whitelist validation, type checking, or schema validation before object instantiation
    Affected if No whitelist of allowed types or strict type checking is performed before deserialization
  4. Check authentication on vulnerable endpoints
    Confirm which deserialization endpoints require authentication; the CVE states authenticated attackers can exploit this
    Affected if The deserialization endpoint is accessible to authenticated users without additional safeguards
  5. Review serialization library configuration
    Inspect library settings or framework configurations for safe deserialization options, such as JSON libraries with strict type handling or whitelisted classes
    Affected if Libraries are configured with default unsafe deserialization or no hardened settings are applied

A user is affected if they operate any network-exposed service that deserializes data from authenticated users without validating against a whitelist of allowed types.

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 safe deserialization by validating input against a whitelist of allowed types, using safer serialization formats (JSON, XML without external entities), or employing deserialization libraries with built-in protections; ensure all deserialization operations occur with strict type checking and minimal privilege.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,980
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-54923 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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