Fickling

Import Fickling safety-check reports in JSON format. Fickling statically analyses and decompiles Python pickle files, which can execute arbitrary code when loaded.

Generate a report with:

fickling --check-safety --json-output fickling.json model.pkl

Note that --json-output only writes a file when --check-safety is also passed.

Severity Mapping#

Fickling returns a single verdict for the file on its own scale:

Each observation behind the verdict — unsafe imports, unused variables assigned from calls — becomes its own Finding carrying the file’s verdict, so a malicious pickle does not collapse into one undifferentiated result. Where Fickling returns a verdict with no itemised results, a single Finding records the verdict.

A LIKELY_SAFE verdict is not imported. Fickling’s own wording is that it “failed to detect any overtly unsafe code, but the pickle file may still be unsafe” — it is an absence of evidence, not a clean bill of health.

Limitations#

Fickling’s JSON does not record which file was analysed, so Findings carry no file path. Import one report per pickle if you need to tell them apart.

Sample Scan Data#

Sample Fickling scans can be found here.

Default Deduplication Hashcode Fields#

By default, DefectDojo identifies duplicate Findings using these hashcode fields:

• vuln_id_from_tool
• severity