CVE-2021-43811 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) Code Injection vulnerability in sockeye. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-43811 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Code injection via unsafe YAML loading
Real-World Exposure
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Description
Sockeye is an open-source sequence-to-sequence framework for Neural Machine Translation built on PyTorch. Sockeye uses YAML to store model and data configurations on disk. Versions below 2.3.24 use unsafe YAML loading, which can be made to execute arbitrary code embedded in config files. An attacker can add malicious code to the config file of a trained model and attempt to convince users to download and run it. If users run the model, the embedded code will run locally. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.24.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | sockeye | all versions | 2.3.24 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for sockeye. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update sockeye to 2.3.24 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43811 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-43811 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-43811. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-43811 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-43811 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.