GHSA-593f-38f6-jp5m — koa
Fix: koajs/koa@5054af6GHSA-593f-38f6-jp5m is a CWE-1333 vulnerability in koa. A fix is available for koa — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity in koa
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-593f-38f6-jp5m.
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.
Real-World Exposure
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.
koanpmDescription
Koa is expressive middleware for Node.js using ES2017 async functions. Prior to versions 0.21.2, 1.7.1, 2.15.4, and 3.0.0-alpha.3, Koa uses an evil regex to parse the X-Forwarded-Proto and X-Forwarded-Host HTTP headers. This can be exploited to carry out a Denial-of-Service attack. Versions 0.21.2, 1.7.1, 2.15.4, and 3.0.0-alpha.3 fix the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | koa | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.15.4 | 2.15.4npm install koa@2.15.4 |
| 📦npm | koa | ≥ 3.0.0-alpha.0&&< 3.0.0-alpha.3 | 3.0.0-alpha.3npm install koa@3.0.0-alpha.3 |
| 📦npm | koa | ≥ 1.0.0&&< 1.7.1 | 1.7.1npm install koa@1.7.1 |
| 📦npm | koa | all versions | 0.21.2npm install koa@0.21.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for koa, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update koa to 2.15.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-593f-38f6-jp5m 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-593f-38f6-jp5m can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-593f-38f6-jp5m. 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-593f-38f6-jp5m in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-593f-38f6-jp5m across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.