Calibre
CVE-2018-7889
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Safe deserialization, type allowlists
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Initial Access The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A local attacker with access to the system could execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
gui2/viewer/bookmarkmanager.py in Calibre 3.18 calls cPickle.load on imported bookmark data, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted .pickle file, as demonstrated by. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Avoid deserializing untrusted data. Use safe serialization formats (JSON). Implement integrity checks and type allowlists.
Affects your stack
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary code through malicious serialized objects. gui2/viewer/bookmarkmanager.py in Calibre 3.18 calls cPickle.load on imported bookmark data, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted .pickle file, as demonstrated by Python code that contains an os.system call. Affected products include: Calibre-Ebook Calibre.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
gui2/viewer/bookmarkmanager.py in Calibre 3.18 calls cPickle.load on imported bookmark data, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted .pickle file, as demonstrated by Python code that contains an os.system call.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Remote code execution in Calibre 9.2.1 and earlier allows authenticated users to write arbitrary files via a path traver
Calibre versions 9.2.1 and below allow authenticated users to write arbitrary files with any extension to any writable l
Remote code execution in Calibre prior to version 9.2.0 through a path traversal flaw in the CHM reader allows local att
Calibre 9.1.0 and earlier contains a path traversal vulnerability in EPUB conversion that allows malicious EPUB files to
calibre is an e-book manager. [CVSS 7.8 HIGH]
Path traversal in Calibre <= 7.14.0 allow unauthenticated attackers to achieve arbitrary file read. Rated high severity
link_to_local_path in ebooks/conversion/plugins/html_input.py in calibre before 6.19.0 can, by default, add resources ou
calibre before 5.32.0 contains a regular expression that is vulnerable to ReDoS (Regular Expression Denial of Service) i
Unsanitized user-input in Calibre <= 7.15.0 allow users with permissions to perform full-text searches to achieve SQL in
HTTP response header injection in Calibre Content Server prior to version 9.4.0 permits authenticated users to inject ar
Unsanitized user-input in Calibre <= 7.15.0 allow attackers to perform reflected cross-site scripting. Rated medium seve
The E-book viewer in calibre before 2.75 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted epub file with Ja
Exploit-DB