GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf — bentoml
HIGHGHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) Code Injection vulnerability in bentoml. A fix is available for bentoml — see the affected versions and patch details below.
BentoML has Dockerfile Command Injection via system_packages in bentofile.yaml
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf.
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
GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf 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 377,238 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
bentomlReal-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 docker.system_packages field in bentofile.yaml accepts arbitrary strings that are interpolated directly into Dockerfile RUN commands without sanitization. Since system_packages is semantically a list of OS package names (data), users do not expect values to be interpreted as shell commands. A malicious bentofile.yaml achieves arbitrary command execution during bentoml containerize / docker build.
Affected Component
src/_bentoml_sdk/images.py:85-89—.format(packages=" ".join(packages))into shell commandsrc/bentoml/_internal/container/frontend/dockerfile/templates/base_debian.j2:13—{{ __options__system_packages | join(' ') }}src/bentoml/_internal/bento/build_config.py:174— No validation onsystem_packages- All distro install commands in
src/bentoml/_internal/container/frontend/dockerfile/__init__.py
Affected Versions
All versions supporting docker.system_packages in bentofile.yaml, confirmed on 1.4.36.
Steps to Reproduce
- Create a project directory with:
service.py:
import bentoml
@bentoml.service
class MyService:
@bentoml.api
def predict(self) -> str:
return "hello"
bentofile.yaml:
service: "service:MyService"
docker:
system_packages:
- "curl && id > /tmp/bentoml-pwned #"
- Run:
bentoml build
- Examine the generated Dockerfile at
~/bentoml/bentos/my_service/<tag>/env/docker/Dockerfile. Line 41 will contain:
RUN apt-get install -q -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef curl && id > /tmp/bentoml-pwned #
- Running
bentoml containerize my_service:<tag>will executeid > /tmp/bentoml-pwnedas root during the Docker build.
Root Cause
The system_packages field values are treated as package names (data) by the user but are string-formatted directly into shell commands in the Dockerfile:
# images.py:85-89
self.commands.append(
CONTAINER_METADATA[self.distro]["install_command"].format(
packages=" ".join(packages) # No escaping
)
)
Where install_command is "apt-get install -q -y -o Dpkg::Options::=--force-confdef {packages}".
A bash_quote filter (wrapping shlex.quote) exists in the codebase and is registered in both Jinja2 environments, but it is only applied to environment variable values, never to system_packages.
Impact
- Malicious repositories: An attacker publishes an ML project with a crafted
bentofile.yaml. Anyone who clones and builds it gets arbitrary code execution duringdocker build. - CI/CD compromise: Automated pipelines running
bentoml containerizeon PRs that modifybentofile.yamlare vulnerable. - BentoCloud: If BentoCloud builds images from user-supplied
bentofile.yaml, this could achieve RCE on cloud infrastructure. - Supply chain: Shared bentos or model repos in the BentoML ecosystem can contain malicious configs.
Suggested Fix
Option 1: Input validation (recommended)
Add a regex validator to system_packages in build_config.py:
import re
VALID_PACKAGE_NAME = re.compile(r'^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9.+\-_:]*$')
def _validate_system_packages(instance, attribute, value):
if value is None:
return
for pkg in value:
if not VALID_PACKAGE_NAME.match(pkg):
raise BentoMLException(
f"Invalid system package name: {pkg!r}. "
"Package names may only contain alphanumeric characters, "
"dots, plus signs, hyphens, underscores, and colons."
)
system_packages: t.Optional[t.List[str]] = attr.field(
default=None, validator=_validate_system_packages
)
Option 2: Output escaping
Apply shlex.quote() to each package name before interpolation in images.py:system_packages() and apply the bash_quote Jinja2 filter in base_debian.j2.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | bentoml | all versions | 1.4.37pip install --upgrade 'bentoml==1.4.37' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for bentoml, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update bentoml to 1.4.37 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf 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 GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf. 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-jfjg-vc52-wqvf in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-jfjg-vc52-wqvf across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.