CVE-2017-1000053 — plug
HIGHCVE-2017-1000053 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in plug. A fix is available for plug — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Arbitrary Code Execution in Cookie Serialization
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
plug💧plug💧plug💧plugReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Hex packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The default serialization used by Plug session may result in code execution in certain situations. Keep in mind, however, the session cookie is signed and this attack can only be exploited if the attacker has access to your secret key as well as your signing/encryption salts. We recommend users to change their secret key base and salts if they suspect they have been leaked, regardless of this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💧Hex | plug | all versions | 1.0.4mix deps.update plug |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.1.0&&< 1.1.7 | 1.1.7mix deps.update plug |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.2.0&&< 1.2.3 | 1.2.3mix deps.update plug |
| 💧Hex | plug | ≥ 1.3.0&&< 1.3.2 | 1.3.2mix deps.update plug |
Affected Products
plugplug_projectDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plug, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update plug to 1.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-1000053 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-1000053 in your dependencies?
Find it across Hex, including transitive dependencies.