CVE-2024-53848

check-jsonschema default caching for remote schemas allows for cache confusion

Workarounds

• Users can use --no-cache to disable caching.
• Users can use --cache-filename to select filenames for use in the cache, or to ensure that other usages do not overwrite the cached schema. (Note: this flag is being deprecated as part of the remediation effort.)
• Users can explicitly download the schema before use as a local file, as in curl -LOs https://example.org/schema.json; check-jsonschema --schemafile ./schema.json

The default cache strategy uses the basename of a remote schema as the name of the file in the cache, e.g. https://example.org/schema.json will be stored as schema.json. This naming allows for conflicts. If an attacker can get a user to run check-jsonschema against a malicious schema URL, e.g., https://example.evil.org/schema.json, they can insert their own schema into the cache and it will be picked up and used instead of the appropriate schema.

Such a cache confusion attack could be used to allow data to pass validation which should have been rejected.

CVE-2024-53848 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.30.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

A patch is in progress but has not yet been released.

1. What is CVE-2024-53848? CVE-2024-53848 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in check-jsonschema (pip), affecting versions < 0.30.0. It is fixed in 0.30.0.
2. How severe is CVE-2024-53848? CVE-2024-53848 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of check-jsonschema are affected by CVE-2024-53848? check-jsonschema (pip) versions < 0.30.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2024-53848? Yes. CVE-2024-53848 is fixed in 0.30.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2024-53848 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-53848 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2024-53848 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2024-53848? Upgrade check-jsonschema to 0.30.0 or later.