GHSA-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx — simplesamlphp/saml2
HIGHGHSA-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in simplesamlphp/saml2. A fix is available for simplesamlphp/saml2 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
SimpleSAMLphp has Possible DoS via XPath Transform
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-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx 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 377,166 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
simplesamlphp/saml2🐘simplesamlphp/saml2-legacy🐘simplesamlphp/saml2🐘simplesamlphp/saml2-legacyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
This library turned out to be vulnerable to Denial-of-Service attacks using XPath transforms. A mitigation has been put in place to restrict the number of transforms and to restrict transforms to only the transform-algorithms mentioned in the SAML 2.0 Core Specifications (and specifically refuse XPath transforms).
Impact
An attacker is able to send specially crafted messages to any entity relying on SimpleSAMLphp (or directly on this SAML2-library) to be able to perform a Denial-of-Service attack.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | ≥ 4.20.0&&< 4.20.3 | 4.20.3composer require simplesamlphp/saml2:^4.20.3 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2-legacy | ≥ 4.20.0&&< 4.20.3 | 4.20.3composer require simplesamlphp/saml2-legacy:^4.20.3 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2 | all versions | 4.19.3composer require simplesamlphp/saml2:^4.19.3 |
| 🐘Packagist | simplesamlphp/saml2-legacy | all versions | 4.19.3composer require simplesamlphp/saml2-legacy:^4.19.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for simplesamlphp/saml2, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update simplesamlphp/saml2 to 4.20.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx 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-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx. 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-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-5cjr-mxj5-wmrx across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.