The example below is a vulnerable YAML code that can be exploited.
import yaml# Input can be whater text or a file with this contentyaml.load(input)
In Python 3, the default loader changed to a safe Loader, and to exploit this vulnerability should be enable UnsafeLoader explicitly.
import yaml# Input can be whater text or a file with this contentyaml.load(input, Loader=yaml.UnsafeLoader)
Example payload to exploit this vulnerability in a file sample.yaml os a direct input if allowed.
!!python/object/apply:os.system ["cat /etc/passwd"]
Fixing this vulnerability is relatively easy.
Replace the usage of yaml.load()
function with yaml.safe_load()
In Python 3, yaml.load()
uses as default data Loader FullLoader
which avoids code execution.