GHSA-4g82-3jcr-q52w — ctx
GHSA-4g82-3jcr-q52w is a security vulnerability in ctx. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Malware in ctx
Real-World Exposure
ctxReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The ctx hosted project on PyPI was taken over via user account compromise and replaced with a malicious project which contained runtime code that collected the content of os.environ.items() when instantiating Ctx objects. The captured environment variables were sent as a base64 encoded query parameter to a heroku application running at https://anti-theft-web.herokuapp.com.
If you installed the package between May 14, 2022 and May 24, 2022, and your environment variables contain sensitive data like passwords and API keys (like AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY), we advise you to rotate your passwords and keys, then perform an audit to determine if they were exploited.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | ctx | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ctx, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of ctx has shipped for GHSA-4g82-3jcr-q52w yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-4g82-3jcr-q52w can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-4g82-3jcr-q52w. 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-4g82-3jcr-q52w in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-4g82-3jcr-q52w across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.