CVE-2026-118938
Fickling pickle loader allows RCE via dotted attribute resolution to optparse.Values.read_file.
Is CVE-2026-118938 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-118938 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked.
How severe is CVE-2026-118938?
CVE-2026-118938 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-118938?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-118938. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-118938 affect?
CVE-2026-118938 affects fickling 0.1.12, CPython 3.x (optparse present), Apps using fickling.load() to deserialize pickles. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-118938?
Disable/avoid fickling.load() on untrusted input; block/scan pickles; apply vendor patch when released.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Remote arbitrary code execution when loading a crafted pickle via fickling.load(), exploiting dotted __qualname__ to invoke optparse.Values.read_file which execs file contents.
Immediate action required
- affected<= 0.1.12
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.