GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3
MEDIUMTendenci Affected by Authenticated Remote Code Execution via Pickle Deserialization
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.
Blast Radius
tendenciReal-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
A critical deserialization vulnerability exists in Tendenci Helpdesk module (NOTE, by default, Helpdesk is NOT enabled), affecting the version 15.3.11 and earlier. This vulnerability allows remote code execution (RCE) by an authenticated user with staff security level due to using Python's pickle module on the helpdesk /reports/. The damage is contained to the user that your Tendenci application runs.
Key Finding: The original CVE-2020-14942 was incompletely patched. While ticket_list() was fixed to use safe JSON deserialization, the run_report() function still uses unsafe pickle.loads().
Permission Scoping: The impact is limited to the permissions of the user running the application, typically www-data, which generally lacks write (except for upload directories) and execute permissions.
Vulnerability Details
Affected Version
- Version: Tendenci 15.3.11 and earlier (all versions since incomplete CVE-2020-14942 patch)
- Component:
tendenci/apps/helpdesk/views/staff.py
Related CVE
- CVE-2020-14942: Original pickle deserialization vulnerability (partially patched)
- GitHub Advisory: GHSA-jqmc-fxxp-r589
- Original Issue: https://github.com/tendenci/tendenci/issues/867
Tendenci User Role Hierarchy
| Level | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | is_superuser | Highest privilege - full Django admin |
| 1 | is_staff | user with Staff security level - can access helpdesk module |
| 2 | Authenticated User | Basic user access |
| 3 | Anonymous User | Public read-only access |
is_staff is a commonly assigned role (by a superuser) for helpdesk operators who manage support tickets - not system administrators.
Code Comparison (Patched vs Vulnerable)
| Function | Line | Deserialization | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
ticket_list() | 763 | simplejson.loads() | ✅ SAFE |
run_report() | 1062 | pickle.loads() | ❌ VULNERABLE |
Why This Qualifies for CVE Assignment
This vulnerability represents an incomplete patch bypass for CVE-2020-14942 with a clear exploitation path. The flaw allows a malicious user with Staff security level to achieve Remote Code Execution via Python's pickle.loads. Though the damage is contained to the user that your Tendenci application runs.
Remediation
Update Tendenci to the latest version (v15.3.12 as of now) immediately if you have Helpdesk enabled. Note that Helpdesk is not enabled by default. All of our hosted sites have been patched, although none of our client sites have the Helpdesk enabled.
References
- Tendenci GitHub: https://github.com/tendenci/tendenci
- CVE-2020-14942: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14942
- GitHub Advisory: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jqmc-fxxp-r589
- Original Issue: https://github.com/tendenci/tendenci/issues/867
- CWE-502: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/502.html
- Python Pickle Security: https://docs.python.org/3/library/pickle.html#restricting-globals
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | tendenci | all versions | 15.3.12 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tendenci. 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 tendenci to 15.3.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3 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 GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3 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 GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-339m-4qw5-j2g3 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.