T08 · Insecure Dependencies
- Location
requirements.txt:1- Finding
Unpinned and Unverified Third-Party Dependencies
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
requirements.txt:1-5
Vulnerability Type: Supply-chain exposure caused by mutable dependency resolution
Risk Level: MediumVulnerable Code Snippet
text pillow>=10.0.0 opencv-python>=4.8.0 pytesseract>=0.3.10 numpy>=1.24.0 scikit-image>=0.22.0The installation instructions invoke this dependency file directly:
bash pip install -r requirements.txtThis command appears in
README.md:8andSKILL.md:41.Technical Analysis
Every dependency uses only a minimum-version constraint. Consequently, installations performed at different times can resolve to different, previously unaudited package versions. The project also supplies no lock file or cryptographic hashes with which pip could verify the exact artifacts approved by the maintainers.
The listed package names are consistent with the image-processing functionality, and the reviewed code does not establish that any current package is malicious. The risk arises because future installation results are mutable. If a dependency release or package-index artifact is compromised, the documented installation command can retrieve and install that artifact without detecting that it differs from the version originally reviewed.
Python packages may execute build or installation logic, and their imported modules execute with the privileges of the Python process. This therefore creates a supply-chain execution path rather than merely a reproducibility issue.
Attack Path
- An attacker compromises a permitted dependency's publishing account, distribution artifact, or relevant package-index delivery path.
- The attacker publishes a version satisfying the project's broad
>=constraint. - A user follows the documented
pip install -r requirements.txtcommand. - pip resolves the compromised version because no exact version or artifact hash is required.
- Malicious packag ...[truncated 836 chars]
- Remediation
View remediation
Remediation Suggestions
- Replace minimum-only constraints with exact, reviewed versions using
==. - Generate and commit a deterministic lock file suitable for the supported Python environments.
- Record cryptographic hashes for every accepted distribution and install with
pip install --require-hashes. - Resolve transitive dependencies into the lock file rather than pinning only direct dependencies.
- Obtain packages only from an explicitly configured trusted index; disable unintended extra indexes to reduce dependency-confusion exposure.
- Use automated dependency scanning and a reviewed update process to avoid leaving pinned packages indefinitely outdated.
- Perform dependency installation in an isolated virtual environment or container under a non-privileged account.
- Update
README.mdandSKILL.mdso their installation commands use the locked, hash-verified dependency set.
- Replace minimum-only constraints with exact, reviewed versions using