CVE-2023-2978 — cells
MEDIUMCVE-2023-2978 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-639 vulnerability in github.com/pydio/cells. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/pydio/cells — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Go package pydio/cells vulnerable to authorization bypass
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-2023-2978 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 378,156 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
github.com/pydio/cellsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A vulnerability was found in Abstrium Pydio Cells 4.2.0. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component Change Subscription Handler. The manipulation leads to authorization bypass. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 4.2.1 is able to address this issue. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. VDB-230210 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/pydio/cells | all versions | 4.2.1go get github.com/pydio/cells@v4.2.1 |
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 github.com/pydio/cells, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/pydio/cells to 4.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-2978 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-2023-2978 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-2978. 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-2023-2978 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-2978 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.