GHSA-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf
HIGHSnowflake JDBC allows an untrusted search path on Windows
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.
Blast Radius
net.snowflake:snowflake-jdbcReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Issue
Snowflake discovered and remediated a vulnerability in the Snowflake JDBC Driver. When the EXTERNALBROWSER authentication method is used on Windows, an attacker with write access to a directory in the %PATH% can escalate their privileges to the user that runs the vulnerable JDBC Driver version.
This vulnerability affects versions 3.2.3 through 3.21.0 on Windows. Snowflake fixed the issue in version 3.22.0.
Vulnerability Details
When the EXTERNALBROWSER authentication method is selected, the Snowflake JDBC Driver on non-macOS operating systems tries to open the SSO URL using xdg-open. Because xdg-open is a Linux program that doesn’t exist in a default Windows installation, a sufficiently privileged attacker could place a malicious executable in one of the directories on the %PATH% and achieve local privilege escalation to the user running the JDBC Driver.
Solution
Snowflake released version 3.22.0 of the Snowflake JDBC Driver, which fixes this issue. We recommend users upgrade to version 3.22.0.
Additional Information
If you discover a security vulnerability in one of our products or websites, please report the issue to HackerOne. For more information, please see our Vulnerability Disclosure Policy.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | net.snowflake:snowflake-jdbc | ≥ 3.2.3&&< 3.22.0 | 3.22.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for net.snowflake:snowflake-jdbc. 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 net.snowflake:snowflake-jdbc to 3.22.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf 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-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf 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-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf. 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-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-7hpq-3g6w-pvhf across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.