CVE-2026-24009 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in docling-core. A fix is available for docling-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Docling Core vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via unsafe PyYAML usage
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-2026-24009.
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-2026-24009 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 378,156 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
docling-coreReal-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
Docling Core (or docling-core) is a library that defines core data types and transformations in the document processing application Docling. A PyYAML-related Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability, namely CVE-2020-14343, is exposed in docling-core starting in version 2.21.0 and prior to version 2.48.4, specifically only if the application uses pyyaml prior to version 5.4 and invokes docling_core.types.doc.DoclingDocument.load_from_yaml() passing it untrusted YAML data. The vulnerability has been patched in docling-core version 2.48.4. The fix mitigates the issue by switching PyYAML deserialization from yaml.FullLoader to yaml.SafeLoader, ensuring that untrusted data cannot trigger code execution. Users who cannot immediately upgrade docling-core can alternatively ensure that the installed version of PyYAML is 5.4 or greater.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | docling-core | ≥ 2.21.0&&< 2.48.4 | 2.48.4pip install --upgrade 'docling-core==2.48.4' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for docling-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update docling-core to 2.48.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-24009 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-2026-24009 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-24009. 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-2026-24009 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-24009 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.