Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-14535

Trailofbits Fickling ≤ 0.1.11

Public PoC
Published
04 July 2026
Modified
10 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0033 26th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-14535 is a high-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Trailofbits Fickling. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Machine Learning Libraries.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Trail of Bits fickling versions up to and including 0.1.11, the UnsafeImportsML analysis pass unconditionally calls AnalysisContext.shorten_code(node) on every import node it inspects, regardless of whether the import is flagged as unsafe. This call registers the shortened code representation…

more

in the shared AnalysisContext.reported_shortened_code set. When the MLAllowlist analysis pass subsequently runs, it calls the same shorten_code() method, receives already_reported=True for every import, and executes a continue statement that skips its allowlist check entirely. This renders MLAllowlist dead code for all imports — it never evaluates whether an import is in the ML allowlist or not. The MLAllowlist pass was designed to catch imports of modules outside the known-safe ML ecosystem (torch, numpy, transformers, etc.) that slip past the UnsafeImports denylist. With MLAllowlist inoperative, any standard library module not in the UNSAFE_IMPORTS denylist can be invoked via pickle deserialization while fickling's check_safety() returns LIKELY_SAFE. The fickling.load() API chains check_safety() into pickle.loads() as an explicit security gate, meaning a LIKELY_SAFE verdict causes the payload to be deserialized and executed. The root cause is shared mutable state between independently-correct analysis passes — UnsafeImportsML works as designed in isolation, MLAllowlist works as designed in isolation, but the shared reported_shortened_code set causes UnsafeImportsML to poison MLAllowlist's deduplication logic.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Machine Learning Libraries
Risk Domain
N/A
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: ml, ml, transformers

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1553 Subvert Trust Controls Defense Impairment
Adversaries may undermine security controls that will either warn users of untrusted activity or prevent execution of untrusted programs.
T1553.005 Mark-of-the-Web Bypass Defense Impairment
Adversaries may abuse specific file formats to subvert Mark-of-the-Web (MOTW) controls.
T1600 Weaken Encryption Defense Impairment
Adversaries may compromise a network device’s encryption capability in order to bypass encryption that would otherwise protect data communications.
T1689 Downgrade Attack Defense Impairment
Adversaries may downgrade or use a version of system features that may be outdated, vulnerable, and/or does not support updated security controls.
T1040 Network Sniffing Credential Access
Adversaries may passively sniff network traffic to capture information about an environment, including authentication material passed over the network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-14534Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-22608Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-22607Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-22612Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2025-67748Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2025-67747Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-22606Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-22609Same product: Trailofbits Fickling
CVE-2026-7978Shared CWE-693
CVE-2023-25080Shared CWE-693

Affected Assets

trailofbits
fickling
≤ 0.1.11

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 8 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.3.3
  • V6.6.3
  • V10.2.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of access authorizations via the protection mechanism itself.

AC-4 mandates use of information flow enforcement mechanisms to control data movement.

SC-2 requires separation of user and system functionality as a protection mechanism.

SC-28 requires protection mechanisms for information at rest.

SC-3 requires isolation of security functions from non-security functions.

SC-7 requires boundary protection mechanisms to monitor and control external communications.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

Enforcing authentication directly implements a core protection mechanism whose absence or misuse is the CWE.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining and enforcing access authorizations is a protection mechanism; proper use prevents the CWE.

PR.DS-01 mostly match
prevents

Cryptographic and integrity controls are protection mechanisms whose correct deployment mitigates the CWE.

PR.DS-02 mostly match
prevents

Encryption and integrity protections for transit are explicit protection mechanisms.

PR.IR-01 mostly match
prevents

Logical network protections are protection mechanisms whose failure matches the CWE.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened configuration baselines ensure protection mechanisms are correctly applied and maintained.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Systematic verification that security mechanisms operate according to defined standards reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms are bypassed or disabled.

mitigates

Hardening devices, disabling vulnerable protocols, and maintaining accurate network diagrams reduce the likelihood that a protection mechanism is misconfigured or left in a weak state.

none

Requiring defined escalation paths, crisis activation criteria, and coordination procedures strengthens the overall protection mechanism so that a single control failure is less likely to leave the organization exposed.

none

By requiring a documented categorization and decision process for security events, the control ensures that protection mechanisms are not bypassed or ignored when anomalies occur.

none

Identifying and remediating control weaknesses that contributed to an incident reduces the likelihood that protection mechanisms will fail again.

none

Post-incident analysis that feeds updated risk assessments and additional controls directly reduces the chance that previously exploited weaknesses will recur.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248524 OL 8 must implement NIST FIPS-validated cryptography for the following: To provision digital signatures, to generate cryptographic hashes, and to protect data requiring data-at-rest protections in accordance with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, directives, policies, regulations, and standards. prevents CWE-693
  • V-248525 All OL 8 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at-rest protection. prevents CWE-693
Windows 10 (2 rules)
  • V-220865 The Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service must not use Basic authentication. prevents CWE-693
  • V-220812 Credential Guard must be running on Windows 10 domain-joined systems. prevents CWE-693
Windows 11 (1 rule)
  • V-253418 The Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service must not use Basic authentication. prevents CWE-693
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-225012 Windows Server 2016 must be running Credential Guard on domain-joined member servers. prevents CWE-693
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205907 Windows Server 2019 must be running Credential Guard on domain-joined member servers. prevents CWE-693
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
  • V-254441 Windows Server 2022 must be running Credential Guard on domain-joined member servers. prevents CWE-693

References