Hugging Face Datasets through 5.1.0 contains an insecure deserialization vulnerability that allows attackers to execute arbitrary Python code by crafting a malicious pickle file loaded through the deprecated pandas packaged builder. Attackers can supply a pickle-backed dataset that is processed by Pandas._generate_tables via pandas.read_pickle() without validation, so when a victim calls datasets.load_dataset("pandas", data_files=...), the embedded __reduce__ payload executes code with the victim process's privileges.
Attack Parameters
Attack Vector
Network
Can be exploited remotely
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Attack Requirements
None
No additional conditions
Privileges Required
None
No privileges needed
User Interaction
Passive
Minimal interaction
Impact Assessment
Confidentiality
High
Complete data leak
Integrity
High
Complete data modification
Availability
High
Complete denial of service
CVSS Vector v4.0