CVE-2025-12781

NameCVE-2025-12781
DescriptionWhen passing data to the b64decode(), standard_b64decode(), and urlsafe_b64decode() functions in the "base64" module the characters "+/" will always be accepted, regardless of the value of "altchars" parameter, typically used to establish an "alternative base64 alphabet" such as the URL safe alphabet. This behavior matches what is recommended in earlier base64 RFCs, but newer RFCs now recommend either dropping characters outside the specified base64 alphabet or raising an error. The old behavior has the possibility of causing data integrity issues. This behavior can only be insecure if your application uses an alternate base64 alphabet (without "+/"). If your application does not use the "altchars" parameter or the urlsafe_b64decode() function, then your application does not use an alternative base64 alphabet. The attached patches DOES NOT make the base64-decode behavior raise an error, as this would be a change in behavior and break existing programs. Instead, the patch deprecates the behavior which will be replaced with the newly recommended behavior in a future version of Python. Users are recommended to mitigate by verifying user-controlled inputs match the base64 alphabet they are expecting or verify that their application would not be affected if the b64decode() functions accepted "+" or "/" outside of altchars.
SourceCVE (at NVD; CERT, ENISA, LWN, oss-sec, fulldisc, Debian ELTS, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, SUSE bugzilla/CVE, GitHub advisories/code/issues, web search, more)

Vulnerable and fixed packages

The table below lists information on source packages.

Source PackageReleaseVersionStatus
pypy3 (PTS)bullseye7.3.5+dfsg-2+deb11u2vulnerable
bullseye (security)7.3.5+dfsg-2+deb11u5vulnerable
bookworm7.3.11+dfsg-2+deb12u3vulnerable
trixie7.3.19+dfsg-2vulnerable
forky, sid7.3.20+dfsg-4vulnerable
python3.11 (PTS)bookworm3.11.2-6+deb12u6vulnerable
bookworm (security)3.11.2-6+deb12u3vulnerable
python3.13 (PTS)trixie3.13.5-2vulnerable
forky, sid3.13.11-1vulnerable
python3.14 (PTS)forky, sid3.14.2-1vulnerable
python3.9 (PTS)bullseye3.9.2-1vulnerable
bullseye (security)3.9.2-1+deb11u4vulnerable

The information below is based on the following data on fixed versions.

PackageTypeReleaseFixed VersionUrgencyOriginDebian Bugs
pypy3source(unstable)(unfixed)
python3.11source(unstable)(unfixed)
python3.13source(unstable)(unfixed)
python3.14source(unstable)(unfixed)
python3.9source(unstable)(unfixed)

Notes

https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/125346
https://github.com/python/cpython/pull/141128
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/security-announce@python.org/thread/KRI7GC6S27YV5NJ4FPDALS2WI5ENAFJ6/
Fix is only to deprecate accepting "+" and "/" with alternative alphabet.
https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/9060b4abbe475591b6230b23c2afefeff26fcca5 (main)

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