GHSA-9965-vmph-33xx is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in validator. A fix is available for validator — see the affected versions and patch details below.
validator.js has a URL validation bypass vulnerability in its isURL function
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-9965-vmph-33xx.
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-9965-vmph-33xx 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 379,145 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.
validatornpmDescription
A URL validation bypass vulnerability exists in validator.js prior to version 13.15.20. The isURL() function uses '://' as a delimiter to parse protocols, while browsers use ':' as the delimiter. This parsing difference allows attackers to bypass protocol and domain validation by crafting URLs leading to XSS and Open Redirect attacks.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | validator | all versions | 13.15.20npm install validator@13.15.20 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for validator, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update validator to 13.15.20 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9965-vmph-33xx 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-9965-vmph-33xx can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9965-vmph-33xx. 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-9965-vmph-33xx in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9965-vmph-33xx across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.