Deserialization of untrusted data can occur in versions 2.4.0 or newer of the Cleanlab project, enabling a maliciously crafted datalab.pkl file to run arbitrary code on an end user’s system when the data directory is loaded.
Weakness
The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.
Potential Mitigations
- Make fields transient to protect them from deserialization.
- An attempt to serialize and then deserialize a class containing transient fields will result in NULLs where the transient data should be. This is an excellent way to prevent time, environment-based, or sensitive variables from being carried over and used improperly.
References