CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-22083 — jsonpickle through 1.4.1 allows remote code execution during deserialization of a malicious payload through the decode() function

Critical CVSS 9.8

jsonpickle through 1.4.1 allows remote code execution during deserialization of a malicious payload through the decode() function. Note: It has been argued that this is expected and clearly documented behaviour. pickle is known to be capable of causing arbitrary code execution, and must not be used with un-trusted data

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-12-17
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-502

Affected products

  • jsonpickle_project / jsonpickle

Matched remediation archetype

Unsafe deserialization and object reconstruction

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Inventory serialization formats accepted from requests, queues, caches, files, cookies, and cross-service messages.
  • Trace whether untrusted input can select classes, types, callbacks, constructors, or object hooks during decoding.
  • Identify signing, schema validation, trust-boundary, and compatibility settings for each decoder.

Remediate safely

  • Replace native object deserialization with a data-only format and explicit schema validation.
  • If replacement is not immediate, use a safe decoder with a minimal type allowlist and disable polymorphic or executable hooks.
  • Update the affected library and add inert tests for unknown types, extra fields, malformed nesting, and unsigned data.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.