GHSA-6cq5-8cj7-g558 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) Improper Authentication vulnerability in codeigniter4/framework. A fix is available for codeigniter4/framework — see the affected versions and patch details below.
CodeIgniter4 Potential Session Handlers Vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-6cq5-8cj7-g558.
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-6cq5-8cj7-g558 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 376,715 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
codeigniter4/frameworkReal-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
Impact
When an application uses (1) multiple session cookies (e.g., one for user pages and one for admin pages) and (2) a session handler is set to DatabaseHandler, MemcachedHandler, or RedisHandler, then if an attacker gets one session cookie (e.g., one for user pages), they may be able to access pages that require another session cookie (e.g., for admin pages).
Patches
Upgrade to version 4.2.11 or later.
Workarounds
- Use only one session cookie.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in codeigniter4/CodeIgniter4
- Email us at SECURITY.md
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | codeigniter4/framework | all versions | 4.2.11composer require codeigniter4/framework:^4.2.11 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/framework, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update codeigniter4/framework to 4.2.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-6cq5-8cj7-g558 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-6cq5-8cj7-g558 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-6cq5-8cj7-g558. 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-6cq5-8cj7-g558 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-6cq5-8cj7-g558 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.