The Keras Model.load_model method can be exploited to achieve arbitrary code execution, even with safe_mode=True.

One can create a specially crafted .h5/.hdf5 model archive that, when loaded via Model.load_model, will trigger arbitrary code to be executed.

This is achieved by crafting a special .h5 archive file that uses the Lambda layer feature of keras which allows arbitrary Python code in the form of pickled code. The vulnerability comes from the fact that the safe_mode=True option is not honored when reading .h5 archives.

Note that the .h5/.hdf5 format is a legacy format supported by Keras 3 for backwards compatibility.
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 08:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The Keras Model.load_model method can be exploited to achieve arbitrary code execution, even with safe_mode=True. One can create a specially crafted .h5/.hdf5 model archive that, when loaded via Model.load_model, will trigger arbitrary code to be executed. This is achieved by crafting a special .h5 archive file that uses the Lambda layer feature of keras which allows arbitrary Python code in the form of pickled code. The vulnerability comes from the fact that the safe_mode=True option is not honored when reading .h5 archives. Note that the .h5/.hdf5 format is a legacy format supported by Keras 3 for backwards compatibility.
Title Arbitary Code execution in Keras load_model()
Weaknesses CWE-913
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 7.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H'}


cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Google

Published:

Updated: 2025-09-19T08:16:44.772Z

Reserved: 2025-09-03T07:27:18.212Z

Link: CVE-2025-9905

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-09-19T09:15:36.033

Modified: 2025-09-19T09:15:36.033

Link: CVE-2025-9905

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.