GHSA-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 is a low-severity (CVSS 2.3) CWE-116 vulnerability in ethyca-fides. A fix is available for ethyca-fides — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Fides Webserver Logs Hosted Database Password Partial Exposure Vulnerability
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-8cm5-jfj2-26q7.
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-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 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 378,567 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
ethyca-fidesReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The Fides webserver requires a connection to a hosted PostgreSQL database for persistent storage of application data. If the password used by the webserver for this database connection includes special characters such as @ and $, webserver startup fails and the part of the password following the special character is exposed in webserver error logs.
This is caused by improper escaping of the SQLAlchemy password string, see here and here for more info.
Impact
Partial exposure of hosted database password in webserver logs
Patches
The vulnerability has been patched in Fides version 2.37.0. Users are advised to upgrade to this version or later to secure their systems against this threat.
Workarounds
There are no workarounds.
Proof of Concept
- Create a hosted PostgreSQL database for Fides with a password including
@or$e.g.p@ssword - Run Fides and observe failure, sample log attached
fides | 2024-02-28 14:27:52.609 | ERROR | fides.api.db.database:configure_db:117 - Unable to configure database: sqlalchemy.exc.OperationalError: (psycopg2.OperationalError) could not translate host name "ssword@fides-db" to address: Name or service not known
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | ethyca-fides | all versions | 2.37.0pip install --upgrade 'ethyca-fides==2.37.0' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ethyca-fides, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ethyca-fides to 2.37.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 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-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-8cm5-jfj2-26q7. 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-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-8cm5-jfj2-26q7 across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.