CVE-2026-14535: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mgx3-9w7v-8674
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CVSS 8.8
CWE-693
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-14535 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2026-14535 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-14535
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mgx3-9w7v-8674
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-14535

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

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-14535, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

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

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure, where the product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product. In Software, 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

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.

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/security/advisories/GHSA-cffv-grgg-g429
NVD — CVE-2026-14535 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14535
Software Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/pull/278
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/commit/41ce7cb01edd97072994039574a2301ebb3f463d
Software Release RELEASE
https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/releases/tag/v0.1.12

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-14535?
CVE-2026-14535 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2026-14535?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-14535?
CVE-2026-14535 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-14535?
CVE-2026-14535 is classified under CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure (The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-14535?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. 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 
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  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-mgx3-9w7v-8674",
  "modified" : "2026-07-10T15:31:35Z",
  "published" : "2026-07-04T15:30:23Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-14535" ],
  "details" : "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.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/security/advisories/GHSA-cffv-grgg-g429"
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    "type" : "ADVISORY",
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  }, {
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    "type" : "WEB",
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  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/trailofbits/fickling/releases/tag/v0.1.12"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
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    "severity" : "HIGH",
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    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-07-04T14:16:29Z"
  }
}