CVE-2026-14535
HIGH
8.8
CVSS 3.1
Description
In Trail of Bits fickling versions up to and including 0.1.11, the UnsafeImportsML analysis pass unconditionally calls AnalysisContext.shorten_code(node) on every import node it inspects, regardless of whether the import is flagged as unsafe. This call registers the shortened code representation in the shared AnalysisContext.reported_shortened_code set. When the MLAllowlist analysis pass subsequently runs, it calls the same shorten_code() method, receives already_reported=True for every import, and executes a continue statement that skips its allowlist check entirely. This renders MLAllowlist dead code for all imports — it never evaluates whether an import is in the ML allowlist or not. The MLAllowlist pass was designed to catch imports of modules outside the known-safe ML ecosystem (torch, numpy, transformers, etc.) that slip past the UnsafeImports denylist. With MLAllowlist inoperative, any standard library module not in the UNSAFE_IMPORTS denylist can be invoked via pickle deserialization while fickling's check_safety() returns LIKELY_SAFE. The fickling.load() API chains check_safety() into pickle.loads() as an explicit security gate, meaning a LIKELY_SAFE verdict causes the payload to be deserialized and executed. The root cause is shared mutable state between independently-correct analysis passes — UnsafeImportsML works as designed in isolation, MLAllowlist works as designed in isolation, but the shared reported_shortened_code set causes UnsafeImportsML to poison MLAllowlist's deduplication logic.
Metadata
Severity & Metrics
8.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products (1)
| Vendor | Product | Platform | Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| trailofbits | fickling | — | 0 ≤ 0.1.11, 0.1.12 |
Weakness (CWE)
| CWE | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CWE-693 | cna | CWE-693 Protection Mechanism Failure |
CVSS scores (1)
| Score | Severity | Version | Source | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | HIGH | 3.1 | cna | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
References (4)
- GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-cffv-grgg-g429 https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/security/advisories/GHSA-cffv-grgg-g429
- Fix PR #278 — Split shorten_code() formatting from dedup tracking, make MLAllowlist opt-in https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/pull/278
- Fix commit 41ce7cb (squash merge of PR #278) https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/commit/41ce7cb01edd97072994039574a2301ebb3f463d
- Fickling v0.1.12 release https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/releases/tag/v0.1.12