Ghost vulnerable to arbitrary file read via symlinks in content importGHSA-9c9v-w225-v5rg
MEDIUMFix: TryGhost/Ghost@690fbf3GHSA-9c9v-w225-v5rg is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.9) Path Traversal vulnerability in ghost. 7 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for ghost — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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-9c9v-w225-v5rg.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
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.
ghostnpmDescription
Impact
A vulnerability in Ghost allows authenticated users to upload files which are symlinks. This can be exploited to perform an arbitrary file read of any file on the operating system.
Site administrators can check for exploitation of this issue by looking for unknown symlinks within Ghost's content/ folder
Vulnerable versions
This security vulnerability is present in Ghost ≤ v5.59.0.
Patches
v5.59.1 contains a fix for this issue.
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 | ghost | all versions | 5.59.1npm install ghost@5.59.1 |
Affected Products
ghostghostResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Ghost CMS 5.59.1 - Arbitrary File Read
by İbrahimsql · Aug 11, 2025
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ghost, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ghost to 5.59.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9c9v-w225-v5rg is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-9c9v-w225-v5rg in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.