GHSA-2fhr-8r8r-qp56 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) vulnerability in zendframework/zendframework. A fix is available for zendframework/zendframework — see the affected versions and patch details below.
ZendFramework Information Disclosure and Insufficient Entropy vulnerability
Real-World Exposure
zendframework/zendframeworkReal-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
In Zend Framework, Zend_Captcha_Word (v1) and Zend\Captcha\Word (v2) generate a "word" for a CAPTCHA challenge by selecting a sequence of random letters from a character set. Prior to this advisory, the selection was performed using PHP's internal array_rand() function. This function does not generate sufficient entropy due to its usage of rand() instead of more cryptographically secure methods such as openssl_pseudo_random_bytes(). This could potentially lead to information disclosure should an attacker be able to brute force the random number generation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | zendframework/zendframework | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.4.9 | 2.4.9composer require zendframework/zendframework:^2.4.9 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zendframework/zendframework, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update zendframework/zendframework to 2.4.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2fhr-8r8r-qp56 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-2fhr-8r8r-qp56 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-2fhr-8r8r-qp56. 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-2fhr-8r8r-qp56 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-2fhr-8r8r-qp56 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.