docs: document LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK for checkpoint security (#7517)

## Summary

- Add `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true` guidance to `JsonPlusSerializer`
docstring and inline comments
- Update the warning message emitted for unregistered types to mention
the env var
- Add module docstring to `_msgpack.py` explaining the safety controls
- Add Security sections to checkpoint, checkpoint-postgres, and
checkpoint-sqlite READMEs

## Context

Multiple security advisories have reported the same msgpack
deserialization pattern (`ext_hook` → `importlib.import_module` →
`getattr` → call). The underlying behavior is documented in the repo's
threat model as T1, but the `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK` env var that
mitigates it is not surfaced in user-facing docs, docstrings, or warning
messages. This PR closes that gap.

## Test plan

- [x] Verify READMEs render correctly on GitHub (callout boxes use `>
[!IMPORTANT]` syntax)
- [x] Verify `JsonPlusSerializer` docstring renders in IDE tooltips
- [x] Confirm warning message format: `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true
PYTHON_CMD 2>&1 | grep -i strict`

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
John Kennedy
2026-04-15 13:05:55 -07:00
committed by GitHub
co-authored by Claude Opus 4.6
parent 6719d34023
commit 7fa49bd550
5 changed files with 29 additions and 1 deletions
+5
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@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ Implementation of LangGraph CheckpointSaver that uses Postgres.
By default `langgraph-checkpoint-postgres` installs `psycopg` (Psycopg 3) without any extras. However, you can choose a specific installation that best suits your needs [here](https://www.psycopg.org/psycopg3/docs/basic/install.html) (for example, `psycopg[binary]`).
## Security
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Set `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true` or pass an explicit `allowed_msgpack_modules` list when creating your checkpointer. This restricts checkpoint deserialization to known-safe types, preventing code execution if the database is compromised. See the [langgraph-checkpoint README](https://github.com/langchain-ai/langgraph/tree/main/libs/checkpoint#serde) for details.
## Usage
> [!IMPORTANT]
+5
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@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
Implementation of LangGraph CheckpointSaver that uses SQLite DB (both sync and async, via `aiosqlite`)
## Security
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Set `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true` or pass an explicit `allowed_msgpack_modules` list when creating your checkpointer. This restricts checkpoint deserialization to known-safe types, preventing code execution if the database is compromised. See the [langgraph-checkpoint README](https://github.com/langchain-ai/langgraph/tree/main/libs/checkpoint#serde) for details.
## Usage
```python
+3
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@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ You must pass these when invoking the graph as part of the configurable part of
`langgraph_checkpoint` also defines protocol for serialization/deserialization (serde) and provides an default implementation (`langgraph.checkpoint.serde.jsonplus.JsonPlusSerializer`) that handles a wide variety of types, including LangChain and LangGraph primitives, datetimes, enums and more.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Checkpoint deserialization security:** By default the serializer allows any Python type found in checkpoint data. New applications should set the environment variable `LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true` or pass an explicit `allowed_msgpack_modules` list to `JsonPlusSerializer` to restrict deserialization to known-safe types.
### Pending writes
When a graph node fails mid-execution at a given superstep, LangGraph stores pending checkpoint writes from any other nodes that completed successfully at that superstep, so that whenever we resume graph execution from that superstep we don't re-run the successful nodes.
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
"""Msgpack deserialization safety controls.
Set ``LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true`` to restrict checkpoint deserialization
to the types listed in ``SAFE_MSGPACK_TYPES``. Without this, any Python
callable stored in checkpoint data will be imported and executed on load.
"""
import os
from collections.abc import Iterable
from typing import cast
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ class JsonPlusSerializer(SerializerProtocol):
class and called within the Pregel loop. It should not be used on untrusted
python objects. If an attacker can write directly to your checkpoint database,
they may be able to trigger code execution when data is deserialized.
Set the environment variable ``LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true`` to restrict
deserialization to a built-in allowlist of safe types. You can also pass
an explicit ``allowed_msgpack_modules`` to the constructor.
"""
def __init__(
@@ -70,8 +74,11 @@ class JsonPlusSerializer(SerializerProtocol):
) -> None:
if allowed_msgpack_modules is _lg_msgpack._SENTINEL:
if _lg_msgpack.STRICT_MSGPACK_ENABLED:
# Strict: only SAFE_MSGPACK_TYPES are allowed.
allowed_msgpack_modules = None
else:
# Permissive (default): all types allowed with a warning.
# Set LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true to lock this down.
allowed_msgpack_modules = True
self.pickle_fallback = pickle_fallback
self._allowed_json_modules: set[tuple[str, ...]] | Literal[True] | None = (
@@ -530,7 +537,8 @@ def _create_msgpack_ext_hook(
logger.warning(
"Deserializing unregistered type %s.%s from checkpoint. "
"This will be blocked in a future version. "
"Add to allowed_msgpack_modules to silence: [(%r, %r)]",
"Set LANGGRAPH_STRICT_MSGPACK=true to block now, or add "
"to allowed_msgpack_modules to allow explicitly: [(%r, %r)]",
module,
name,
module,