CVE-2025-2000 — qiskit-terra
CRITICALCVE-2025-2000 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in qiskit-terra. A fix is available for qiskit-terra — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Qiskit allows arbitrary code execution decoding QPY format versions < 13
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-2000.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2025-2000 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
qiskit-terra🐍qiskit🐍qiskitReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
A maliciously crafted QPY file can potentially execute arbitrary-code embedded in the payload without privilege escalation when deserializing QPY formats < 13. A python process calling Qiskit's qiskit.qpy.load() function could potentially execute any arbitrary Python code embedded in the correct place in the binary file as part of a specially constructed payload.
Patches
Fixed in Qiskit 1.4.2 and in Qiskit 2.0.0rc2
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | qiskit-terra | ≥ 0.18.0 | No fix |
| 🐍PyPI | qiskit | all versions | 1.4.2pip install --upgrade 'qiskit==1.4.2' |
| 🐍PyPI | qiskit | ≥ 2.0.0rc1&&< 2.0.0rc2 | 2.0.0rc2pip install --upgrade 'qiskit==2.0.0rc2' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for qiskit-terra, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
No patched version of qiskit-terra has shipped for CVE-2025-2000 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-2000 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-2000. 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-2025-2000 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-2000 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.