CVE-2023-30548 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in gatsby-plugin-sharp. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-30548 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Path traversal vulnerability in gatsby-plugin-sharp
Real-World Exposure
gatsby-plugin-sharp📦gatsby-plugin-sharpReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
gatsby-plugin-sharp is a plugin for the gatsby framework which exposes functions built on the Sharp image processing library. The gatsby-plugin-sharp plugin prior to versions 5.8.1 and 4.25.1 contains a path traversal vulnerability exposed when running the Gatsby develop server (gatsby develop). It should be noted that by default gatsby develop is only accessible via the localhost 127.0.0.1, and one would need to intentionally expose the server to other interfaces to exploit this vulnerability by using server options such as --host 0.0.0.0, -H 0.0.0.0, or the GATSBY_HOST=0.0.0.0 environment variable. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability will have read access to all files within the scope of the server process. A patch has been introduced in [email protected] and [email protected] which mitigates the issue by ensuring that included paths remain within the project directory. As stated above, by default gatsby develop is only exposed to the localhost 127.0.0.1. For those using the develop server in the default configuration no risk is posed. If other ranges are required, preventing the develop server from being exposed to untrusted interfaces or IP address ranges would mitigate the risk from this vulnerability. Users are non the less encouraged to upgrade to a safe version.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | gatsby-plugin-sharp | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.8.1 | 5.8.1 |
| 📦npm | gatsby-plugin-sharp | all versions | 4.25.1 |
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 gatsby-plugin-sharp. 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 gatsby-plugin-sharp to 5.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-30548 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-2023-30548 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-2023-30548. 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-2023-30548 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-30548 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.