GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv — @nuxt/devtools
CRITICALGHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.6) Code Injection vulnerability in @nuxt/devtools. A fix is available for @nuxt/devtools — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Unauthenticated Nuxt DevTools RPC allows arbitrary command execution on the developer's host
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv.
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
GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv 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 377,166 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
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.
@nuxt/devtoolsnpmDescription
Impact
Nuxt DevTools (development mode only) exposes a bidirectional RPC channel over the Vite HMR WebSocket via the nuxt:devtools:rpc plugin. On affected versions the channel has no authentication: any client that can reach the Vite HMR endpoint (ws://<host>:<port>/, subprotocol vite-hmr) can call RPC methods, with no token, handshake, or origin check before the channel is established. The updateOptions(), clearOptions(), and openInEditor() methods do not enforce the ensureDevAuthToken check that the other mutating methods use.
openInEditor() reads the persisted behavior.openInEditor value and passes it to the launch-editor package, which spawns it as a child process. That value is settable through the equally unauthenticated updateOptions(). An attacker who can reach the HMR port can therefore chain updateOptions('behavior', { openInEditor: '<command>' }) then openInEditor('<any-existing-file>') to execute an arbitrary program on the developer's machine.
The HMR port is reachable by a process on the same host, by any peer on the LAN when the dev server is bound with nuxi dev --host, or by a malicious website the developer visits while the dev server is running (a browser can open the HMR WebSocket cross-origin). Impact is limited to development environments; production builds do not run DevTools.
Patches
Fixed in @nuxt/[email protected]. Because nuxt depends on @nuxt/devtools through a ^3.x range, updating is a lockfile refresh / reinstall; no nuxt release is required.
Workarounds
- Update
@nuxt/devtoolsto a patched version. - Do not run the dev server bound to a non-loopback interface (
nuxi dev --host) on an untrusted network. - Disable DevTools entirely with
devtools: { enabled: false }innuxt.config.
References
- GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv
launch-editor: https://www.npmjs.com/package/launch-editor
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @nuxt/devtools | all versions | 3.3.1npm install @nuxt/devtools@3.3.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @nuxt/devtools, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @nuxt/devtools to 3.3.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv 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 GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv. 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-279x-mwfv-vcqv in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-279x-mwfv-vcqv across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.