CVE-2022-25878
HIGHCVE-2022-25878 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.2) CWE-1321 vulnerability in protobufjs. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2022-25878 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Prototype Pollution
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
protobufjsnpmDescription
The package protobufjs before 6.11.3 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution which can allow an attacker to add/modify properties of the Object.prototype. This vulnerability can occur in multiple ways: 1. by providing untrusted user input to util.setProperty or to ReflectionObject.setParsedOption functions 2. by parsing/loading .proto files
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | protobufjs | ≥ 6.11.0&&< 6.11.3 | 6.11.3 |
| 📦npm | protobufjs | ≥ 6.10.0&&< 6.10.3 | 6.10.3 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for protobufjs. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update protobufjs to 6.11.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-25878 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2022-25878 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2022-25878. 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-2022-25878 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2022-25878 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.