Unsafe deserialisation in the PKI implementation scheme of NVFlareGHSA-rcxc-3w2m-mp8h
CRITICALFix: NVIDIA/NVFlare@fd018eeGHSA-rcxc-3w2m-mp8h is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in nvflare. A fix is available for nvflare — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
nvflareReal-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
Impact
NVFLARE contains a vulnerability in its PKI implementation module, where The CA credentials are transported via pickle and no safe deserialization. The deserialization of Untrusted Data may allow an unprivileged network attacker to cause Remote Code Execution, Denial Of Service, and Impact to both Confidentiality and Integrity. All versions before 2.1.2 are affected.
CVSS Score = 9.8 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Patches
The patch will be included in nvflare==2.1.2
Workarounds
Replace pickle serialization with JSON and change the code accordingly
Additional information Issue Found by: Oliver Sellwood (@Nintorac)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | nvflare | all versions | 2.1.2pip install --upgrade 'nvflare==2.1.2' |
Affected Products
nvflarenvidiaDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nvflare, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update nvflare to 2.1.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-rcxc-3w2m-mp8h is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-rcxc-3w2m-mp8h in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.