GHSA-838h-jqp6-cf2f
CRITICALSandbox bypass leading to arbitrary code execution in Deno
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
denoReal-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
Impact
The versions of Deno between release 1.18.0 and 1.20.2 (inclusive) are vulnerable to an attack where a malicious actor controlling the code executed in a Deno runtime could bypass permission checks and execute arbitrary shell code.
There is no evidence that this vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.
This vulnerability does not affect users of Deno Deploy.
Patches
The vulnerability has been patched in Deno 1.20.3.
Workarounds
There is no workaround. All users are recommended to upgrade to 1.20.3 immediately
The cause of this error was that certain FFI operations did not correctly check for permissions. The issue was fixed in this pull request.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | deno | ≥ 1.18.0&&< 1.20.3 | 1.20.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for deno. 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 deno to 1.20.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-838h-jqp6-cf2f 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-838h-jqp6-cf2f 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-838h-jqp6-cf2f. 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-838h-jqp6-cf2f in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-838h-jqp6-cf2f across crates.io dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.