pydicom pynetdicom Library
Summary
CISA has issued an alert regarding a critical path traversal vulnerability (CVE-2026-56445) in the pydicom pynetdicom Library, specifically versions >=v1.0.0|<v3.0.4. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to write to arbitrary file paths by exploiting the qrscp application's C-STORE handler, which processes attacker-supplied DICOM datasets without proper sanitization. The vulnerability affects critical infrastructure sectors, particularly Healthcare and Public Health, with no vendor fix available yet.
IFF Assessment
The article details a critical vulnerability with a high CVSS score, allowing unauthenticated attackers to write arbitrary files, and the vendor has not yet responded to requests for mitigation.
Severity
The CVSS score of 9.1 is critical due to its Network Attack Vector (AV:N), Low Attack Complexity (AC:L), No Privileges Required (PR:N), and No User Interaction (UI:N). It allows an unauthenticated attacker to achieve high impact on Integrity (I:H) and Availability (A:H) by writing to arbitrary file paths.
Defender Context
Defenders in healthcare and other sectors using pydicom pynetdicom Library must immediately identify affected versions and assess their exposure. Given the lack of a vendor fix, organizations should monitor for updates, consider implementing network-level mitigations, or restrict access to the qrscp application. This highlights the ongoing challenge of securing third-party libraries within critical infrastructure, especially when vendor response is slow or non-existent.