GHSA-xj56-p8mm-qmxj LLaMA-Factory allows Code Injection through improper vhead_file safeguards
SummaryA critical remote code execution vulnerability was discovered during the Llama Factory training process. This vulnerability arises because the `vhead_file` is loaded without proper safeguards, allowing malicious attackers to execute arbitrary malicious code on the host system simply by passing a malicious `Checkpoint path` parameter through the `WebUI` interface. The attack is stealthy, as the victim remains unaware of the exploitation. The root cause is that the `vhead_file` argument is loaded without the secure parameter `weights_only=True`.Note: In torch versions <2.6, the default setting is `weights_only=False`, and Llama Factory's `setup.py` only requires `torch>=2.0.0`.Affected VersionLlama Factory versions <=0.9.3 are affected by this vulnerability.DetailsIn LLaMA Factory's WebUI, when a user sets the `Checkpoint path`, it modifies the `adapter_name_or_path` parameter passed to the training process.
code in src/llamafactory/webui/runner.py
<img width="1040" alt="image-1" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c8bc79e4-ce7d-43c9-b0fd-e37c235e6585" />The `adapter_name_or_path` passed to the training process is then used in `src/llamafactory/model/model_utils/valuehead.py` to fetch the corresponding `value_head.bin` file from Hugging Face. This file is subsequently loaded via `torch.load()` without the security parameter `weights_only=True` being set, resulting in remote code execution.
code in src/llamafactory/model/model_utils/valuehead.py
<img width="1181" alt="image-2" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/6edbe694-0c60-4a54-bfb3-5e1042c9230d" />PoCSteps to ReproduceDeploy llama factory.Remote attack through the WebUI interfaceConfigure `Model name` and `Model path`  correctly. For demonstration purposes, we'll use a small model `llamafactory/tiny-random-Llama-3` to accelerate model loading.Set `Finetuning method` to `LoRA` and `Train Stage` to `Reward Modeling`. The vulnerability is specifically triggered during the Reward Modeling training stage.Input a malicious Hugging Face path in `Checkpoint path` – here we use `paulinsider/llamafactory-hack`. This repository(https://huggingface.co/paulinsider/llamafactory-hack/tree/main ) contains a malicious `value_head.bin` file. The generation method for this file is as follows (it can execute arbitrary attack commands; for demonstration, we configured it to create a `HACKED!` folder).Click `Start` to begin training. After a brief wait, a `HACKED!` folder will be created on the server. Note that arbitrary malicious code could be executed through this method.**The video demonstration of the vulnerability exploitation is available at the** [Google Drive Link](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AddKm2mllsXfuvL4Tvbn_WJdjEOYXx4y/view?usp=sharing)ImpactExploitation of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to:Execute arbitrary malicious code / OS commands on the server.Potentially compromise sensitive data or escalate privileges.Deploy malware or create persistent backdoors in the system.
This significantly increases the risk of data breaches and operational disruption.
CVSS v3.1 score: 8.3