GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) CWE-209 vulnerability in @backstage/backend-app-api. A fix is available for @backstage/backend-app-api — see the affected versions and patch details below.
@backstage/backend-app-api leaks GitLab access tokens
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg.
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
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.
@backstage/backend-app-apinpmDescription
A flaw was found in the Red Hat Developer Hub (RHDH). The catalog-import function leaks GitLab access tokens on the frontend when the base64 encoded GitLab token includes a newline at the end of the string. The sanitized error can display on the frontend, including the raw access token. Upon gaining access to this token and depending on permissions, an attacker could push malicious code to repositories, delete resources in Git, revoke or generate new keys, and sign code illegitimately.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @backstage/backend-app-api | all versions | 0.5.9-next.1npm install @backstage/backend-app-api@0.5.9-next.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @backstage/backend-app-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @backstage/backend-app-api to 0.5.9-next.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
The vulnerability is assessed with a Moderate impact rating since its exploitation necessitates the user inputting an invalid token. Red Hat Developer Hub contains the fix for this vulnerability with Backstage 1.22.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| RHDH-1.1-RHEL-9 | rhdh/rhdh-hub-rhel9:1.1-107.1724038966 | RHBA-2024:5869 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-86rg-pf4c-5grg across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.