GHSA-8p4x-wr7x-3788
HIGHGHSA-8p4x-wr7x-3788 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in python-liquid. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-8p4x-wr7x-3788 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
python-liquid: Absolute paths escape filesystem loader search path
Real-World Exposure
python-liquidReal-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
Impact
The built-in FileSystemLoader and CachingFileSystemLoader do not guard against reading files outside their search paths when given an absolute path to resolve. This allows malicious template authors to load and render arbitrary files via the {% include %} and {% render %} tags. Targeted files would need to contain valid Liquid markup and be readable by the application process.
Patches
The issue is fixed in version 2.2.0 with the inclusion of a template_path.is_absolute() condition in liquid/builtin/loaders/file_system_loader.py.
if os.path.pardir in template_path.parts or template_path.is_absolute():
raise TemplateNotFoundError(template_name)
Workarounds
Create a custom template loader by inheriting from FileSystemLoader and overriding resolve_path(). Use an instance of the custom loader as the loader argument when instantiating your Liquid environment.
import os
from pathlib import Path
from liquid import Environment
from liquid import FileSystemLoader
from liquid.exceptions import TemplateNotFoundError
class MyFileSystemLoader(FileSystemLoader):
def resolve_path(self, template_name: str) -> Path:
template_path = Path(template_name)
if self.ext and not template_path.suffix:
template_path = template_path.with_suffix(self.ext)
if os.path.pardir in template_path.parts or template_path.is_absolute():
raise TemplateNotFoundError(template_name)
for path in self.search_path:
source_path = path.joinpath(template_path)
if not source_path.exists():
continue
return source_path
raise TemplateNotFoundError(template_name)
env = Environment(loader=MyFileSystemLoader("path/to/templates/"))
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | python-liquid | all versions | 2.2.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for python-liquid. 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 python-liquid to 2.2.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-8p4x-wr7x-3788 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-8p4x-wr7x-3788 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-8p4x-wr7x-3788. 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-8p4x-wr7x-3788 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-8p4x-wr7x-3788 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.