How severe is GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww?

GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww?

GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww affects the following packages: django (PyPI), django (PyPI), django (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww?

Update django to 2.2.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww in my PyPI dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww?

GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.4%, placing it in the 82th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww was published on January 12, 2022 and was last updated on September 20, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍 PyPI

GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww

HIGH

Denial-of-service in Django

Also known asBIT-django-2021-45115CVE-2021-45115PYSEC-2022-1

Published

Jan 12, 2022

Updated

Sep 20, 2024

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk82th percentile+1.95%

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.

Blast Radius

3 pkgs affected

🐍django🐍django🐍django

Real-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

An issue was discovered in Django 2.2 before 2.2.26, 3.2 before 3.2.11, and 4.0 before 4.0.1. UserAttributeSimilarityValidator incurred significant overhead in evaluating a submitted password that was artificially large in relation to the comparison values. In a situation where access to user registration was unrestricted, this provided a potential vector for a denial-of-service attack.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`django`	≥ 2.2a1&&< 2.2.26	2.2.26
🐍PyPI	`django`	≥ 3.2a1&&< 3.2.11	3.2.11
🐍PyPI	`django`	≥ 4.0a1&&< 4.0.1	4.0.1

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for django. 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 django to 2.2.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww 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-53qw-q765-4fww 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-53qw-q765-4fww. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

An issue was discovered in Django 2.2 before 2.2.26, 3.2 before 3.2.11, and 4.0 before 4.0.1. `UserAttributeSimilarityValidator` incurred significant overhead in evaluating a submitted password that was artificially large in relation to the comparison values. In a situation where access to user registration was unrestricted, this provided a potential vector for a denial-of-service attack.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-53qw-q765-4fww across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works