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

Exp

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.

Published: 2024-02-21 Last update: 2025-02-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-23346 is rated High Exploit Risk (91/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 59.29%, 98th percentile). 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +4.40% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2024-23346

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
52205 exploit_db edb 2025-04-15 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-23346

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-06 54.89% 59.29% +4.40%
2 2026-05-07 48.47% 54.89% +6.42%
3 2026-04-05 — 48.47% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-23346

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.3 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.5 6.0 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-23346

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-23346

GHSA-vgv8-5cpj-qj2f · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: pip — pymatgen vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when parsing a maliciously crafted JonesFaithfulTransformation transformation_string

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-23346

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-23346 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (pymatgen), 3 status rows across 3 suites (bookworm, sid, trixie): resolved 3. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-23346
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-23346 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (pymatgen), 11 status rows across 11 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, not-affected 3, ignored 1, needed 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-23346

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-23346

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
materialsvirtuallab pymatgen < 2024.2.20 cpe:2.3:a:materialsvirtuallab:pymatgen:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-23346

cvelogic Threat Intelligence