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GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68

HIGH

GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) remote code execution vulnerability in exiftool-vendored. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Arbitrary code execution in ExifTool

Published
May 4, 2021
Updated
Oct 8, 2021
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

102other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream
exiftool-vendorednpm
157Kdownloads / week

Description

Impact

Arbitrary code execution can occur when running exiftool against files with hostile metadata payloads.

Patches

ExifTool has already been patched in version 12.24. exiftool-vendored, which vendors ExifTool, includes this patch in v14.3.0.

Workarounds

No.

References

https://twitter.com/wcbowling/status/1385803927321415687 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22204

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦npmexiftool-vendoredall versions14.3.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for exiftool-vendored. 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.

  2. Fix

    Update exiftool-vendored to 14.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 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-4whq-r978-2x68. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact Arbitrary code execution can occur when running `exiftool` against files with hostile metadata payloads. ### Patches ExifTool has already been patched in version 12.24. exiftool-vendored, which vendors ExifTool, includes this patch in v14.3.0. ### Workarounds No. ### References https://twitter.com/wcbowling/status/1385803927321415687 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22204 ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [exiftool-vendored](https://github.com/photostructure/exiftool-vendored.js)
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-4whq-r978-2x68 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.