CVE-2017-16618: Owlmixin Unsafe Deserialization Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-ccmq-qvcp-5mrm
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-502
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16618 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) unsafe deserialization vulnerability (CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data) affecting Owlmixin libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves unsafe deserialization in owlmixin. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.0.0.

CVE-2017-16618 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16618
GHSA Identifier GHSA-ccmq-qvcp-5mrm
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Affected Product Owlmixin
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2017-16618

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Owlmixin dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

owlmixin fixed: 2.0.0 
pip install owlmixin>=2.0.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show owlmixin

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2017-16618, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show owlmixin

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Owlmixin in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.0.0), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show owlmixin command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data, where the product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid. In Owlmixin, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

An exploitable vulnerability exists in the YAML loading functionality of util.py in OwlMixin before 2.0.0a12. A "Load YAML" string or file (aka load_yaml or load_yamlf) can execute arbitrary Python commands resulting in command execution because load is used where safe_load should have been used. An attacker can insert Python into loaded YAML to trigger this vulnerability.

CVE-2017-16618 Affected Owlmixin Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.0.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
owlmixin
pypi/owlmixin
PyPI
< 2.0.0
2.0.0

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16618 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16618
Owlmixin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin/issues/12
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin/commit/5d0575303f6df869a515ced4285f24ba721e0d4e
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-ccmq-qvcp-5mrm
Owlmixin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/owlmixin/PYSEC-2017-22.yaml
Owlmixin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin
joel-malwarebenchmark.github.io/blog/2017/11/08/cve... WEB
https://joel-malwarebenchmark.github.io/blog/2017/11/08/cve-2017-16618-convert-through-owlmixin

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16618?
CVE-2017-16618 is a security vulnerability in Owlmixin involving Unsafe deserialization in owlmixin under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.
Which Owlmixin versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.0.0 across affected packages: owlmixin.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16618?
Upgrading to 2.0.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is owlmixin affected?
Yes, owlmixin is affected in releases prior to 2.0.0. Upgrade your dependency to 2.0.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16618?
CVE-2017-16618 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-16618?
CVE-2017-16618 is classified under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data (The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2017-16618?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show owlmixin'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-ccmq-qvcp-5mrm",
  "modified" : "2024-10-07T21:07:56Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-13T16:01:12Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16618" ],
  "summary" : "Unsafe deserialization in owlmixin",
  "details" : "An exploitable vulnerability exists in the YAML loading functionality of util.py in OwlMixin before 2.0.0a12. A \"Load YAML\" string or file (aka load_yaml or load_yamlf) can execute arbitrary Python commands resulting in command execution because load is used where safe_load should have been used. An attacker can insert Python into loaded YAML to trigger this vulnerability.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "owlmixin"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.0.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16618"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin/issues/12"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin/commit/5d0575303f6df869a515ced4285f24ba721e0d4e"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-ccmq-qvcp-5mrm"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/owlmixin/PYSEC-2017-22.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tadashi-aikawa/owlmixin"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://joel-malwarebenchmark.github.io/blog/2017/11/08/cve-2017-16618-convert-through-owlmixin"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-502" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:31:05Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}