GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r is a high-severity (CVSS 8.7) CWE-74 vulnerability in dependabot-omnibus. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Remote code execution in dependabot-core branch names when cloning
Real-World Exposure
dependabot-omnibus💎dependabot-commonReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
Remote code execution vulnerability in dependabot-common and dependabot-go_modules when a source branch name contains malicious injectable bash code.
For example, if Dependabot is configured to use the following source branch name: "/$({curl,127.0.0.1})", Dependabot will make a HTTP request to the following URL: 127.0.0.1 when cloning the source repository.
When Dependabot is configured to clone the source repository during an update, Dependabot runs a shell command to git clone the repository:
git clone --no-tags --no-recurse-submodules --depth=1 --branch=<BRANCH> --single-branch <GITHUB_REPO_URL> repo/contents/path
Dependabot will always clone the source repository for go_modules during the file fetching step and can be configured to clone the repository for other package managers using the FileFetcher class from dependabot-common.
source = Dependabot::Source.new(
provider: "github",
repo: "repo/name",
directory: "/",
branch: "/$({curl,127.0.0.1})",
)
repo_contents_path = "./file/path"
fetcher = Dependabot::FileFetchers.for_package_manager("bundler").
new(source: source, credentials: [],
repo_contents_path: repo_contents_path)
fetcher.clone_repo_contents
Patches
The fix was applied to version 0.125.1: https://github.com/dependabot/dependabot-core/pull/2727
Workarounds
Escape the branch name prior to passing it to the Dependabot::Source class.
For example using shellwords:
require "shellwords"
branch = Shellwords.escape("/$({curl,127.0.0.1})")
source = Dependabot::Source.new(
provider: "github",
repo: "repo/name",
directory: "/",
branch: branch,
)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | dependabot-omnibus | ≥ 0.119.0.beta1&&< 0.125.1 | 0.125.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | dependabot-common | ≥ 0.119.0.beta1&&< 0.125.1 | 0.125.1 |
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 dependabot-omnibus. 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 dependabot-omnibus to 0.125.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r 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 GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r 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 GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-23f7-99jx-m54r across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.