An undocumented and unsafe feature in the PLY (Python Lex-Yacc) library 3.11 allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via the picklefile parameter in the yacc() function. This parameter accepts a .pkl file that is deserialized with pickle.load() without validation. Because pickle allows execution of embedded code via __reduce__(), an attacker can achieve code execution by passing a malicious pickle file. The parameter is not mentioned in official documentation or the GitHub repository, yet it is active in the PyPI version. This introduces a stealthy backdoor and persistence risk.
No affected software listed.