What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2024-23346: pymatgen arbitrary code execution when parsing a maliciously crafted JonesFaithfulTransformation transformation_string

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 3.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2024-02-21 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-77

Description

Pymatgen (Python Materials Genomics) is an open-source Python library for materials analysis. A critical security vulnerability exists in the `JonesFaithfulTransformation.from_transformation_str()` method within the `pymatgen` library prior to version 2024.2.20. This method insecurely utilizes `eval()` for processing input, enabling execution of arbitrary code when parsing untrusted input. Version 2024.2.20 fixes this issue.

Affected products

• pymatgen: before 2024.2.20 — fixed in 2024.2.20

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: pymatgen 2024.2.20. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/blob/master/pymatgen/symmetry/settings.py#L97C1-L111C108
• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/commit/c231cbd3d5147ee920a37b6ee9dd236b376bcf5a
• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/security/advisories/GHSA-vgv8-5cpj-qj2f
• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/blob/master/pymatgen/symmetry/settings.py#L97C1-L111C108
• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/commit/c231cbd3d5147ee920a37b6ee9dd236b376bcf5a
• https://github.com/materialsproject/pymatgen/security/advisories/GHSA-vgv8-5cpj-qj2f
• https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/critical-security-flaw-in-pymatgen-library-cve-2024-23346

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