CVE-2019-1000013 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-345 vulnerability in hex_core. A fix is available for hex_core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Hex authenticity of signed packages not validated
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2019-1000013 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
hex_coreReal-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
Hex package manager hex_core version 0.3.0 and earlier contains a Signing oracle vulnerability in Package registry verification that can result in Package modifications not detected, allowing code execution. This attack appears to be exploitable via victim fetches packages from malicious/compromised mirror. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 0.4.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💧Hex | hex_core | all versions | 0.4.0mix deps.update hex_core |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for hex_core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update hex_core to 0.4.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-1000013 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2019-1000013 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2019-1000013. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-1000013 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2019-1000013 across Hex dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.