GHSA-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr — illuminate/cookie
GHSA-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr is a remote code execution vulnerability in illuminate/cookie. A fix is available for illuminate/cookie — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Laravel RCE vulnerability in "cookie" session driver
Real-World Exposure
illuminate/cookie🐘illuminate/cookieReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Application's using the "cookie" session driver were the primary applications affected by this vulnerability. Since we have not yet released a security release for the Laravel 5.5 version of the framework, we recommend that all applications running Laravel 5.5 and earlier do not use the "cookie" session driver in their production deployments.
Regarding the vulnerability, applications using the "cookie" session driver that were also exposing an encryption oracle via their application were vulnerable to remote code execution. An encryption oracle is a mechanism where arbitrary user input is encrypted and the encrypted string is later displayed or exposed to the user. This combination of scenarios lets the user generate valid Laravel signed encryption strings for any plain-text string, thus allowing them to craft Laravel session payloads when an application is using the "cookie" driver.
This fix prefixes cookie values with an HMAC hash of the cookie's name before encryption and then verifies a matching hash on decryption, making it impossible to craft a valid cookie payload even if an encryption oracle is exposed via the application.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | illuminate/cookie | ≥ 4.1.0&&< 6.18.31 | 6.18.31composer require illuminate/cookie:^6.18.31 |
| 🐘Packagist | illuminate/cookie | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.22.4 | 7.22.4composer require illuminate/cookie:^7.22.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for illuminate/cookie, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update illuminate/cookie to 6.18.31 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr 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-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr. 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-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-2ffv-r4r9-r8xr across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.