How severe is CVE-2023-52137?

CVE-2023-52137 has a CVSS score of 7.7/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-52137?

CVE-2023-52137 affects the following packages: tj-actions/verify-changed-files (GitHub Actions). Ecosystems affected: GitHub Actions.

How do I fix CVE-2023-52137?

Update tj-actions/verify-changed-files to 17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-52137 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-52137 in my GitHub Actions dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tj-actions/verify-changed-files. 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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-52137 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-52137?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-52137 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-52137 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2023-52137, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-52137?

CVE-2023-52137 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.6%, placing it in the 83th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2023-52137 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-52137 was published on December 29, 2023 and was last updated on April 2, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦 GitHub Actions

CVE-2023-52137

HIGH

GitHub Action tj-actions/verify-changed-files is vulnerable to command injection in output filenames

Also known asGHSA-ghm2-rq8q-wrhc

Published

Dec 29, 2023

Updated

Apr 2, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk83th percentile+2.00%

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.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

📦tj-actions/verify-changed-files

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects GitHub Actions packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

The tj-actions/verify-changed-files action allows for command injection in changed filenames, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code and potentially leak secrets. The verify-changed-files workflow returns the list of files changed within a workflow execution. This could potentially allow filenames that contain special characters such as ; which can be used by an attacker to take over the GitHub Runner if the output value is used in a raw fashion (thus being directly replaced before execution) inside a run block. By running custom commands, an attacker may be able to steal secrets such as GITHUB_TOKEN if triggered on other events than pull_request.

This has been patched in versions 17 and 17.0.0 by enabling safe_output by default and returning filename paths escaping special characters for bash environments.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦GitHub Actions	`tj-actions/verify-changed-files`	all versions	17

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

The [`tj-actions/verify-changed-files`](https://github.com/tj-actions/ve…

github.comNVDJan 2024

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tj-actions/verify-changed-files. 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 tj-actions/verify-changed-files to 17 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-52137 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-2023-52137 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-2023-52137. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The [`tj-actions/verify-changed-files`](https://github.com/tj-actions/verify-changed-files) action allows for command injection in changed filenames, allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code and potentially leak secrets. The [`verify-changed-files`](https://github.com/tj-actions/verify-changed-files) workflow returns the list of files changed within a workflow execution. This could potentially allow filenames that contain special characters such as `;` which can be used by an attacker to take over the [GitHub Runner](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-gi

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2023-52137 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2023-52137 across GitHub Actions dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works