Summary
ReDoS in giskard's transformation.py (GHSL-2024-324)
ReDoS in Giskard text perturbation detector
A Remote Code Execution (ReDoS) vulnerability was discovered in Giskard component by the GitHub Security Lab team. When processing datasets with specific text patterns with Giskard detectors, this vulnerability could trigger exponential regex evaluation times, potentially leading to denial of service.
Details
The vulnerability affects Giskard's punctuation removal transformation used in the text perturbation detection. A regex used to detect URLs and links was vulnerable to catastrophic backtracking that could be triggered by specific patterns in the text.
Affected version
Giskard versions prior to 2.15.5 are affected. Users should upgrade to version 2.15.5 or later, which includes a fix for this vulnerability.
Credit
This issue was discovered and reported by GHSL team member @kevinbackhouse (Kevin Backhouse).
Impact
This vulnerability can cause extended computation times or crashes in Giskard when processing text containing certain patterns.
A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use. Typical impact: denial of service when input is crafted to trigger backtracking.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-52524? CVE-2024-52524 is a medium-severity inefficient regular expression (ReDoS) vulnerability in giskard (pip), affecting versions <= 2.15.4. It is fixed in 2.15.5. A regular expression with worst-case exponential or polynomial matching time is applied to untrusted input, causing excessive CPU use.
- Which versions of giskard are affected by CVE-2024-52524? giskard (pip) versions <= 2.15.4 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-52524? Yes. CVE-2024-52524 is fixed in 2.15.5. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-52524 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-52524 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2024-52524 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2024-52524? Upgrade
giskardto 2.15.5 or later.