GHSA-7pwq-f4pq-78gm — rustdecimal
GHSA-7pwq-f4pq-78gm is a security vulnerability in rustdecimal. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
`rustdecimal` is a malicious crate
Real-World Exposure
rustdecimalReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The Rust Security Response WG and the crates.io team [were notified][1] on 2022-05-02 of the existence of the malicious crate rustdecimal, which contained malware. The crate name was intentionally similar to the name of the popular [rust_decimal][2] crate, hoping that potential victims would misspell its name (an attack called "typosquatting").
To protect the security of the ecosystem, the crates.io team permanently removed the crate from the registry as soon as it was made aware of the malware. An analysis of all the crates on crates.io was also performed, and no other crate with similar code patterns was found.
Keep in mind that the [rust_decimal][2] crate was not compromised, and it is still safe to use.
Analysis of the crate
The crate had less than 500 downloads since its first release on 2022-03-25, and no crates on the crates.io registry depended on it.
The crate contained identical source code and functionality as the legit rust_decimal crate, except for the Decimal::new function.
If your project or organization is running GitLab CI, we strongly recommend checking whether your project or one of its dependencies depended on the rustdecimal crate, starting from 2022-03-25. If you notice a dependency on that crate, you should consider your CI environment to be compromised.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | rustdecimal | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for rustdecimal, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of rustdecimal has shipped for GHSA-7pwq-f4pq-78gm yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-7pwq-f4pq-78gm can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-7pwq-f4pq-78gm. 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-7pwq-f4pq-78gm in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-7pwq-f4pq-78gm across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.