PyCQA / PyCQA/bandit

bandit does not consistently detect extractall with TarFile

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bug
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Description

Describe the bug

Hello bandit team,
I observed TarFile.extractall is not detected as vulnerable (B202:tarfile_unsafe_members) without explicit import tarfile line present (even if it is not actually used).

I created three simple files to demonstrate the issue:

  1. case1.py uses both TarFile.extractall and tarfile.extractall
  2. case2.py uses TarFile.extractall only
  3. case3.py uses TarFile.extractall only but with "useless" import tarfile
# bandit-repro/case1.py
import tarfile
from pathlib import Path
from tarfile import TarFile


def extractall_TarFile(p: Path, out: Path):
    "bandit detects this correctly as vulnerable"
    with TarFile(p) as tar:
        tar.extractall(out)


def extract_tarfile(p: Path, out: Path):
    "bandit detects this correctly as vulnerable"
    with tarfile.open(p) as tar:
        tar.extractall(out)
# bandit-repro/case2.py
from pathlib import Path
from tarfile import TarFile


def extractall_bandit_does_not_detect(p: Path, out: Path):
    "bandit *does not* detect this correctly as vulnerable"
    with TarFile(p) as tar:
        tar.extractall(out)
# bandit-repro/case3.py
import tarfile  # noqa: F401
from pathlib import Path
from tarfile import TarFile


def extractall_bandit_detects(p: Path, out: Path):
    "bandit *does* detect this correctly as vulnerable with surplus tarfile import"
    with TarFile(p) as tar:
        tar.extractall(out)

Then, when I ran bandit, it did not detect that the vulnerability is present in case2.py as well:

$ bandit -r -a file -f txt bandit-repro

Run started:2024-09-03 22:52:08.975866

Test results:
>> Issue: [B202:tarfile_unsafe_members] tarfile.extractall used without any validation. Please check and discard dangerous members.
   Severity: High   Confidence: High
   CWE: CWE-22 (https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html)
   More Info: https://bandit.readthedocs.io/en/1.7.9/plugins/b202_tarfile_unsafe_members.html
   Location: bandit-repro/case1.py:9:8
8	    with TarFile(p) as tar:
9	        tar.extractall(out)
10	

--------------------------------------------------
>> Issue: [B202:tarfile_unsafe_members] tarfile.extractall used without any validation. Please check and discard dangerous members.
   Severity: High   Confidence: High
   CWE: CWE-22 (https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html)
   More Info: https://bandit.readthedocs.io/en/1.7.9/plugins/b202_tarfile_unsafe_members.html
   Location: bandit-repro/case1.py:15:8
14	    with tarfile.open(p) as tar:
15	        tar.extractall(out)

--------------------------------------------------
>> Issue: [B202:tarfile_unsafe_members] tarfile.extractall used without any validation. Please check and discard dangerous members.
   Severity: High   Confidence: High
   CWE: CWE-22 (https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html)
   More Info: https://bandit.readthedocs.io/en/1.7.9/plugins/b202_tarfile_unsafe_members.html
   Location: bandit-repro/case3.py:9:8
8	    with TarFile(p) as tar:
9	        tar.extractall(out)

--------------------------------------------------

Code scanned:
	Total lines of code: 24
	Total lines skipped (#nosec): 0
	Total potential issues skipped due to specifically being disabled (e.g., #nosec BXXX): 0

Run metrics:
	Total issues (by severity):
		Undefined: 0
		Low: 0
		Medium: 0
		High: 3
	Total issues (by confidence):
		Undefined: 0
		Low: 0
		Medium: 0
		High: 3
Files skipped (0):
Reproduction steps
1. pipx install bandit
2. create folder bandit-repro with case1.py, case2.py and case3.py (as shown above) in it
3. bandit -r -a file -f txt bandit-repro
4. observe case2.py in not in the report
Expected behavior

TarFile.extractall should be reported as vulnerable no matter if import tarfile is present.

Bandit version

1.7.9 (Default)

Python version

3.12 (Default)

Additional context

Thanks for the project!

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the B202:tarfile_unsafe_members plugin and reproduce the report using case1.py, case2.py, and case3.py with the supplied bandit command. Trace why detection depends on the unused import, then update the relevant coverage so case2.py is reported while the existing cases remain correct.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
security, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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