python-ldap has sanitization bypass in ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars

Summary

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method `ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars` can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted `list` or `dict` is supplied as the `assertion_value` parameter, and the non-default `escape_mode=1` is configured. The method `ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars` supports 3 different escaping modes. `escape_mode=0` (default) and `escape_mode=2` happen to raise exceptions when a `list` or `dict` object is supplied as the `assertion_value` parameter. However, `escape_mode=1` computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the `python-ldap` library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the `ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars` method to raise an exception when the supplied `assertion_value` parameter is not of type `str`.

Timeline

1. Oct 10, 2025, 10:02 PM UTCCVE published
2. Oct 14, 2025, 2:57 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. Oct 14, 2025, 2:57 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• python-ldap python-ldap

  fixed in 3.4.5

• python-ldapPyPI

  fixed in 3.4.5

References 3