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.
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.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Fri, 19 Sep 2025 08:30:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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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 |
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Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Google
Published:
Updated: 2025-09-19T08:16:44.772Z
Reserved: 2025-09-03T07:27:18.212Z
Link: CVE-2025-9905

No data.

Status : Received
Published: 2025-09-19T09:15:36.033
Modified: 2025-09-19T09:15:36.033
Link: CVE-2025-9905

No data.

No data.