How severe is GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq has a CVSS score of 8.1/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq affects the following packages: plug (Hex), plug (Hex), plug (Hex), plug (Hex). Ecosystems affected: Hex.

How do I fix GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

Update plug to 1.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq in my Hex dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plug. 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.9%, placing it in the 77th 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.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq?

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq was published on April 12, 2022 and was last updated on December 10, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq: Arbitrary Code Execution in Cookie Seriali…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk77th percentile+0.86%

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

4 pkgs affected

💧plug💧plug💧plug💧plug

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Hex packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

The default serialization used by Plug session may result in code execution in certain situations. Keep in mind, however, the session cookie is signed and this attack can only be exploited if the attacker has access to your secret key as well as your signing/encryption salts. We recommend users to change their secret key base and salts if they suspect they have been leaked, regardless of this vulnerability.

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💧Hex	`plug`	all versions	1.0.4
💧Hex	`plug`	≥ 1.1.0&&< 1.1.7	1.1.7
💧Hex	`plug`	≥ 1.2.0&&< 1.2.3	1.2.3
💧Hex	`plug`	≥ 1.3.0&&< 1.3.2	1.3.2

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for plug. 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 plug to 1.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq 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-5v4m-c73v-c7gq. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

The default serialization used by Plug session may result in code execution in certain situations. Keep in mind, however, the session cookie is signed and this attack can only be exploited if the attacker has access to your secret key as well as your signing/encryption salts. We recommend users to change their secret key base and salts if they suspect they have been leaked, regardless of this vulnerability.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq across Hex 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

GHSA-5v4m-c73v-c7gq