GHSA-8988-4f7v-96qf
MEDIUMGHSA-8988-4f7v-96qf is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-770 vulnerability in @opentelemetry/core. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-8988-4f7v-96qf is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
OpenTelemetry Core: Unbounded memory allocation in W3C Baggage propagation
Blast Radius
Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.
@opentelemetry/corenpmDescription
Overview
W3CBaggagePropagator.extract() in @opentelemetry/core does not enforce size limits when parsing inbound baggage HTTP headers. The W3C Baggage specification recommends a maximum of 8,192 bytes and 180 entries; these limits were only enforced on the outbound (inject()) path, not on the inbound (extract()) path. Parsing oversized baggage causes memory allocation proportional to the header size without any cap.
Impact
The practical availability impact for most Node.js deployments is limited. Node.js enforces a default --max-http-header-size of 16,384 bytes on the total combined size of all HTTP headers, constraining what an external attacker can deliver before the propagator is reached. Additionally, the header is already in memory (parsed by the HTTP layer) by the time it reaches the propagator - the additional allocation is the overhead of splitting into entry objects, not an unbounded read.
The risk is higher when transport-layer limits are absent - e.g., non-HTTP transports (messaging systems, custom TextMapGetter implementations) or deployments that have raised --max-http-header-size.
Remediation
Update @opentelemetry/core to version 2.8.0 or later. The fix enforces limits consistent with the W3C Baggage specification at the propagator level:
- Maximum total baggage size: 8,192 bytes
- Maximum number of entries: 180
- Maximum per-entry size: 4,096 bytes
Headers that exceed these limits are truncated at the point the limit is reached.
Workarounds
Ensure header size limits are configured at the server or gateway level. The default Node.js HTTP header limit (16 KB) mitigates external attack vectors independently of this fix. For non-HTTP transports receiving baggage from untrusted sources, validate input size before passing it to the propagator.
References
- W3C Baggage Specification - Limits
- opentelemetry-java: GHSA-rcgg-9c38-7xpx
- opentelemetry-go: GHSA-mh2q-q3fh-2475
Credit
Reported by tonghuaroot.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @opentelemetry/core | all versions | 2.8.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @opentelemetry/core. 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 @opentelemetry/core to 2.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-8988-4f7v-96qf 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-8988-4f7v-96qf 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-8988-4f7v-96qf. 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-8988-4f7v-96qf in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-8988-4f7v-96qf across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.