CVE-2023-30548 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in gatsby-plugin-sharp. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for gatsby-plugin-sharp — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal vulnerability in gatsby-plugin-sharp
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-30548.
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
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
gatsby-plugin-sharpnpmDescription
Impact
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).
The following steps can be used to reproduce the vulnerability:
# Create a new Gatsby project, and install gatsby-plugin-sharp
$ npm init gatsby
$ cd my-gatsby-site
$ npm install gatsby-plugin-sharp
# Add the plugin to gatsby-config.js
module.exports = {
plugins: [
{
resolve: `gatsby-plugin-sharp`,
},
]
}
# Start the Gatsby develop server
$ gatsby develop
# Execute the path traversal vulnerability
$ curl "http://127.0.0.1:8000/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/etc/passwd"
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.
Patches
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.
Workarounds
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.
We encourage projects to upgrade to the latest major release branch for all Gatsby plugins to ensure the latest security updates and bug fixes are received in a timely manner.
Credits
We would like to thank Patrick Rombouts and Bart Veneman [drukwerkdeal.nl] for bringing the issue to our attention.
For more information
Email us at [email protected].
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | gatsby-plugin-sharp | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.8.1 | 5.8.1npm install gatsby-plugin-sharp@5.8.1 |
| 📦npm | gatsby-plugin-sharp | all versions | 4.25.1npm install gatsby-plugin-sharp@4.25.1 |
Affected Products
gatsby-plugin-sharpgatsbyjsResearch 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, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
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
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-30548 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.