picklescan Arbitrary Code Execution via ensurepip._run_pip

Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves picklescan versions 0.0.26 and earlier failing to detect malicious pickle files that embed the ensurepip._run_pip function in their __reduce__ methods. Detection involves scanning pickle files for this specific function call.

To detect this vulnerability on your system, you should verify the version of picklescan installed and scan pickle files for the presence of ensurepip._run_pip calls within __reduce__ methods.

Since picklescan versions before 0.0.30 do not detect this, upgrading to version 0.0.30 or later is recommended for accurate detection.

While no explicit commands are provided in the resources, a general approach would be to use picklescan to scan pickle files, for example:

• Run `picklescan <pickle_file>` to scan a pickle file for malicious content.
• Check the picklescan version with `picklescan --version` to ensure it is 0.0.30 or later.

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Mitigation Strategies

The primary mitigation step is to upgrade picklescan to version 0.0.30 or later, where the detection of ensurepip._run_pip in pickle files has been fixed.

Avoid loading pickle files from untrusted or unauthenticated sources, as malicious pickle files can execute arbitrary code upon unpickling.

Review and restrict the use of pickle.load() on files that have not been verified or scanned with an updated picklescan version.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in picklescan versions 0.0.26 and earlier, where the tool fails to detect the built-in function ensurepip._run_pip when scanning pickle files. Attackers can embed calls to ensurepip._run_pip within the __reduce__ methods of malicious pickle files. Because picklescan does not detect these calls, the malicious pickle files can bypass detection and execute arbitrary code remotely when the pickle.load() function is invoked.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to remote code execution on systems that use picklescan to scan pickle files. An attacker can craft malicious pickle files that bypass detection and execute arbitrary code when loaded, potentially compromising the affected system's security and integrity.

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