Overview
The well-regarded MONAI AI Toolkit, widely used for healthcare imaging, has recently been revealed to contain a significant security vulnerability. This vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-58755, allows malicious actors to manipulate the project’s handling of Zip files to overwrite system files, potentially leading to a full system compromise or data leakage. This issue affects all versions of MONAI up to and including version 1.5.0. As this toolkit is commonly used in healthcare settings, the potential impact on patient data security is of serious concern.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-58755
Severity: High (8.8 CVSS Score)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Overwriting of system files leading to potential system compromise and data leakage
Affected Products
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
Product | Affected Versions
MONAI AI Toolkit | Up to and including version 1.5.0
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability stems from the extractall function, `zip_file.extractall(output_dir)`, used directly to process compressed files. It is used in many places in the project. A malicious actor could create a Zip file with malicious content, and when this file is decompressed using the extractall function, it overwrites system files. The vulnerability’s exploitation is further amplified by the fact that the project allows the download of the zip content through a link.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited, using pseudocode:
# Create a malicious zip file
zip_file = ZipFile("malicious.zip", "w")
zip_file.write("system_file_to_overwrite", arcname="/overwriting_file")
# The malicious zip file is sent to the server running MONAI.
# When the server decompresses the zip file, it overwrites the system file.
zip_file.extractall("/path/to/extract/directory")This pseudocode demonstrates how a malicious Zip file could be created and used to overwrite crucial system files when the extractall function is used.
Mitigation Guidance
As of the time of publication, no known fixed versions are available for this vulnerability in the MONAI AI Toolkit. Until such a solution is provided, users are encouraged to apply a vendor patch if available, or use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as temporary mitigation strategies. Users should also exercise caution when downloading and decompressing Zip files, particularly from untrusted sources. Regular system backups and data encryption can further help to mitigate potential damage.
