CVE-2025-27154 — spotipy
Fix: spotipy-dev/spotipy@1ca453fCVE-2025-27154 is a Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in spotipy. A fix is available for spotipy — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Spotipy's cache file, containing spotify auth token, is created with overly broad permissions
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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-2025-27154.
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.
Real-World Exposure
spotipyReal-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
Summary
The CacheHandler class creates a cache file to store the auth token here: https://github.com/spotipy-dev/spotipy/blob/master/spotipy/cache_handler.py#L93-L98
The file created has rw-r--r-- (644) permissions by default, when it could be locked down to rw------- (600) permissions. I think 600 is a sensible default.
Details
This leads to overly broad exposure of the spotify auth token. If this token can be read by an attacker (another user on the machine, or a process running as another user), it can be used to perform administrative actions on the Spotify account, depending on the scope granted to the token.
PoC
Run an application that uses spotipy with client creation like this:
from pathlib import Path
import spotipy
from os import getenv
def create_spotify_client(client_id: str, client_secret: str) -> spotipy.Spotify:
"""Create and return an authenticated Spotify client.
Args:
client_id: Spotify API client ID
client_secret: Spotify API client secret
Returns:
An authenticated Spotify client instance
"""
cache_path = Path.home() / ".cache" / "spotify-backup/.auth_cache"
cache_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
cache_handler = spotipy.cache_handler.CacheFileHandler(cache_path=str(cache_path))
client = spotipy.Spotify(
auth_manager=spotipy.oauth2.SpotifyOAuth(
client_id=client_id,
client_secret=client_secret,
redirect_uri="http://localhost:8000/callback",
cache_handler=cache_handler,
scope=[
"user-library-read",
"playlist-read-private",
"playlist-read-collaborative",
],
)
)
return client
create_spotify_client()
And then check the file permissions on the cache file that was created with:
$ ls -la ~/.cache/spotify-backup/.auth_cache`
.rw-r--r--. alichtman alichtman 562 B Thu Feb 20 02:12:33 2025 /home/alichtman/.cache/spotify-backup/.auth_cache
If this issue is combined with another misconfiguration, like having o+r permissions set on your home directory, an attacker will be able to read this file and steal this auth token.
Good defense in depth would be to restrict read permissions on this cache file that contains an auth token
Impact
Potential exposure of Spotify auth token to other users with access to the machine. A worst case scenario is if the token is granted all permissions, and can be used to do any of:
- exfiltrate spotify likes / saved playlists
- delete your content
- modify your content w/o your permission
If someone were to discover an RCE in Spotify that you could trigger on a machine by having a song played (or song metadata parsed or something), this auth token could maybe be used to add a song to a playlist, or control playback (allowing further exploitation).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | spotipy | all versions | 2.25.1pip install --upgrade 'spotipy==2.25.1' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for spotipy, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update spotipy to 2.25.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-27154 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-27154 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-27154. 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-2025-27154 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-27154 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.