CVE-2025-71323
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 · uneditedpicklescan before 0.0.33 fails to block the ctypes module, allowing attackers to achieve remote code execution by invoking direct syscalls and accessing raw memory. Attackers can craft malicious pickle files using ctypes.WinDLL to load kernel32.dll and execute arbitrary commands, bypassing sandbox protections and gadget chain detection.
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 · high confidencepicklescan before 0.0.33 fails to block Python's ctypes module during pickle file scanning, allowing attackers to embed ctypes.WinDLL calls in malicious pickle files to load kernel32.dll and execute arbitrary native code. This bypasses the scanner's gadget chain detection and sandbox protections by using direct syscalls instead of Python-level code execution.
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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine picklescan versionRun 'pip show picklescan' or 'pip list | grep picklescan' to retrieve the installed version numberAffected if The version displayed is less than 0.0.33 (e.g., 0.0.32, 0.0.31, etc.)
-
Identify if scanning untrusted pickle filesReview the picklescan usage patterns in your environment - check command history, scripts, or CI/CD pipelines that invoke picklescan to scan pickle files from external or untrusted sourcesAffected if Picklescan is being used to scan pickle files from untrusted or external sources without verification
-
Verify ctypes module availabilityIn the Python environment where picklescan runs, check if 'import ctypes' succeeds; on Windows, verify that ctypes.windll is accessibleAffected if The ctypes module is importable and usable in the Python runtime used by picklescan (the bypass requires this)
-
Check scan output for WinDLL payloadsReview picklescan scan logs or output for any detections mentioning 'ctypes', 'WinDLL', 'kernel32', or direct system call patterns in scanned pickle filesAffected if Scans have processed pickle files that could contain ctypes-based payloads (untrusted files) and the scanner did not block or warn about ctypes usage
You are affected if picklescan version is below 0.0.33 AND you use it to scan untrusted pickle files from external sources, since the vulnerability allows ctypes-based code execution to bypass detection.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade picklescan to version 0.0.33 or later which includes ctypes module blocking. Additionally, consider disabling ctypes in Python runtime environments processing untrusted pickle data as a defense-in-depth measure.
0.0.33
- Upgrade picklescan to version 0.0.33 or later using: pip install picklescan>=0.0.33
- Verify the installed version: pip show picklescan
- Ensure the ctypes module is now properly blocked in pickle deserialization scanning
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-71323 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-71323 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data