CVE-2026-53873
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 1.0.4 contains an incomplete blocklist for the profile module that fails to block the module-level profile.run() function, allowing attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution via exec(). Attackers can craft malicious pickle files calling profile.run(statement) to execute arbitrary Python code while picklescan reports zero security issues.
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 1.0.4 uses an incomplete blocklist to detect malicious pickle files, missing the profile module's run() function which accepts arbitrary Python code via its statement parameter and executes it via exec(). Attackers can craft pickle files that call profile.run('malicious_code') to achieve remote code execution while picklescan reports zero security issues.
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.
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Check if picklescan is installedRun 'pip show picklescan' or 'pip list' to see if the picklescan package is present in your Python environmentAffected if picklescan is not installed on the system
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Determine the installed version of picklescanRun 'pip show picklescan' and note the Version field, or use 'pip list | grep picklescan'Affected if the version displayed is lower than 1.0.4
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Verify if picklescan is used in your workflowSearch your codebase or automation scripts for imports of picklescan or calls to picklescan CLI toolsAffected if picklescan is actively used to scan pickle files from untrusted sources
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Confirm the blocklist does not include profile.run()Inspect the source code of your installed picklescan version - look for blocklist, denylist, or security-related modules that define which pickle operations are flaggedAffected if the blocklist definition does not include 'profile.run' or a similar entry for the profile module's run function
Your environment is affected if picklescan is installed with a version lower than 1.0.4 and you rely on it to detect malicious pickle files.
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 1.0.4 or later which includes profile.run() in its blocklist. Additionally, avoid loading untrusted pickle files and consider using safer serialization formats like JSON.
1.0.4
- 1. Identify the current version of picklescan installed in your environment using: pip show picklescan or pip list | grep picklescan
- 2. Upgrade picklescan to version 1.0.4 or later using: pip install picklescan>=1.0.4
- 3. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed version: pip show picklescan
- 4. Re-scan any previously scanned pickle files to confirm the profile.run() function is now properly detected and blocked
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-53873 — 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-2026-53873 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
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- 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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