GHSA-7322-jrq4-x5hf is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.4) CWE-345 vulnerability in lcobucci/jwt. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-7322-jrq4-x5hf is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
File reference keys leads to incorrect hashes on HMAC algorithms
Real-World Exposure
lcobucci/jwt🐘lcobucci/jwt🐘lcobucci/jwtReal-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
Users of HMAC-based algorithms (HS256, HS384, and HS512) combined with Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference as key are having their tokens issued/validated using the file path as hashing key - instead of the contents.
The HMAC hashing functions take any string as input and, since users can issue and validate tokens, people are lead to believe that everything works properly.
Patches
All versions have been patched to always load the file contents, deprecated the Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference, and suggest Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory as the alternative.
Workarounds
Use Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory instead of Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference to create the instances of your keys:
-use Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\LocalFileReference;
+use Lcobucci\JWT\Signer\Key\InMemory;
-$key = LocalFileReference::file(__DIR__ . '/public-key.pem');
+$key = InMemory::file(__DIR__ . '/public-key.pem');
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | lcobucci/jwt | ≥ 3.4.0&&< 3.4.6 | 3.4.6 |
| 🐘Packagist | lcobucci/jwt | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.0.4 | 4.0.4 |
| 🐘Packagist | lcobucci/jwt | ≥ 4.1.0&&< 4.1.5 | 4.1.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for lcobucci/jwt. 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 lcobucci/jwt to 3.4.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7322-jrq4-x5hf 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-7322-jrq4-x5hf 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-7322-jrq4-x5hf. 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-7322-jrq4-x5hf in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-7322-jrq4-x5hf across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.