GHSA-43ff-rr26-8hx4 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.4) CWE-295 vulnerability in org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch. A fix is available for org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenSearch Data Prepper plugins trust all SSL certificates by default
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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-43ff-rr26-8hx4.
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-43ff-rr26-8hx4 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 376,715 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
org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearchReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
The OpenSearch sink and source plugins in Data Prepper are configured to trust all SSL certificates by default when no certificate path was provided, making connections vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks.
Prior to this fix, the OpenSearch sink and source plugins would automatically use a trust all SSL strategy when connecting to OpenSearch clusters if no certificate path was explicitly configured. This behavior bypassed SSL certificate validation, potentially allowing attackers to intercept and modify data in transit through man-in-the-middle attacks.
The vulnerability affects connections to OpenSearch when the cert parameter is not explicitly provided.
Patches
Data Prepper 2.12.2
Workarounds
If you cannot immediately upgrade to the fixed version, you can implement the following workaround.
OpenSearch sink
Add the cert parameter to your OpenSearch sink configuration with the path to your cluster's CA certificate. The following example shows how to accomplish this.
sink:
- opensearch:
hosts: ["https://your-opensearch-cluster:9200"]
cert: /path/to/your/ca-certificate.pem
OpenSearch source
Add the cert parameter to your OpenSearch sink configuration with the path to your cluster's CA certificate. The following example shows how to accomplish this.
sink:
- opensearch:
hosts: ["https://your-opensearch-cluster:9200"]
connection:
cert: /path/to/your/ca-certificate.pem
References
N/A
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch | all versions | 2.12.2org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch:2.12.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.opensearch.dataprepper.plugins:opensearch to 2.12.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-43ff-rr26-8hx4 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-43ff-rr26-8hx4 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-43ff-rr26-8hx4. 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-43ff-rr26-8hx4 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-43ff-rr26-8hx4 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.