GHSA-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Unrestricted File Upload vulnerability in codeigniter4/framework. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
CodeIgniter4 has a validation bypass when uploading file extensions via `ext_in` rule
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx.
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-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx 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 366,526 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
codeigniter4/frameworkReal-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
Impact
The ext_in upload validation rule checked the MIME-derived guessed extension instead of the client-provided filename extension. As a result, an uploaded file named shell.php containing GIF-like content could pass validation such as:
uploaded[avatar]|is_image[avatar]|mime_in[avatar,image/gif]|ext_in[avatar,gif]
because the detected MIME type maps to gif, even though the uploaded filename extension is php.
Applications are impacted if they:
- accept user-controlled uploads,
- rely on
ext_into validate the uploaded filename extension, - save uploaded files using the original client filename:
$file->move($path), - store uploads in a web-accessible directory,
- and allow PHP or other executable files to run from that directory.
In those conditions, this may lead to arbitrary code execution. The default application does not expose such an upload endpoint.
Patches
Upgrade to v4.7.3 or later.
Workarounds
- Save uploads outside the public web root, preferably under
writable/uploads - Use
$file->store()or$file->move($path, $file->getRandomName())instead of preserving the original filename - Disable script execution in any public upload directory
- Manually verify the client filename extension before moving the file
- Reject files when
$file->getClientExtension()is not in the allowed list or does not match$file->guessExtension()
Resources
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | codeigniter4/framework | all versions | 4.7.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/framework. 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 codeigniter4/framework to 4.7.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx 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-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx 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-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx. 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-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-2gr4-ppc7-7mhx across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.