Electron: openExternal permission requests can be attributed to the wrong originGHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx
MEDIUMFix: electron/electron#53699GHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) CWE-346 vulnerability in electron. A fix is available for electron — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
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.
electronnpmDescription
Impact
Requests to open external protocol URLs could be attributed to a document other than the one that asked for them, so the requestingUrl passed to session.setPermissionRequestHandler was a trusted origin for a launch untrusted content had requested. An origin-based handler could therefore let untrusted content launch an OS-registered external application.
Apps are only affected if they grant openExternal based on the requesting origin and let untrusted content open or navigate windows. Apps whose permission handler denies openExternal for untrusted content are not affected.
Workarounds
Deny the openExternal permission for untrusted content, or deny the windows it opens with setWindowOpenHandler.
Fixed Versions
45.0.0-alpha.544.3.043.7.042.11.3
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | electron | all versions | 42.11.3npm install electron@42.11.3 |
| 📦npm | electron | ≥ 43.0.0-alpha.1&&< 43.7.0 | 43.7.0npm install electron@43.7.0 |
| 📦npm | electron | ≥ 44.0.0-alpha.1&&< 44.3.0 | 44.3.0npm install electron@44.3.0 |
| 📦npm | electron | ≥ 45.0.0-alpha.1&&< 45.0.0-alpha.5 | 45.0.0-alpha.5npm install electron@45.0.0-alpha.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for electron, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update electron to 42.11.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-997q-gvvc-jwmx in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.