How severe is GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m?

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m has a CVSS score of 5.7/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m?

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m affects the following packages: System.DirectoryServices.Protocols (NuGet). Ecosystems affected: NuGet.

How do I fix GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m?

Update System.DirectoryServices.Protocols to 5.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m in my NuGet dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for System.DirectoryServices.Protocols. 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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m?

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 20.3%, placing it in the 97th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

When was GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m was published on October 12, 2021 and was last updated on September 4, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m: System.DirectoryServices.… Information Dis…

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

20.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk97th percentile+16.73%

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.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

.NETSystem.DirectoryServices.Protocols

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects NuGet packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Microsoft is releasing this security advisory to provide information about a vulnerability in .NET. This advisory also provides guidance on what developers can do to update their applications to remove this vulnerability.

A Information Disclosure vulnerability exists in .NET where System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnection may send credentials in plain text on Linux.

Patches

Any .NET application that uses System.DirectoryServices.Protocols with a vulnerable version listed below on system based on Linux.

Package name	Vulnerable versions	Secure versions
System.DirectoryServices.Protocols	5.0.0	5.0.1

Other Details

Announcement for this issue can be found at dotnet/announcements#202
An Issue for this can be found at https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/60301
MSRC details for this can be found at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2021-41355

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
.NETNuGet	`System.DirectoryServices.Protocols`	all versions	5.0.1

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for System.DirectoryServices.Protocols. 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 System.DirectoryServices.Protocols to 5.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m 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-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m 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-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft is releasing this security advisory to provide information about a vulnerability in .NET. This advisory also provides guidance on what developers can do to update their applications to remove this vulnerability. A Information Disclosure vulnerability exists in .NET where System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnection may send credentials in plain text on Linux. ### Patches Any .NET application that uses `System.DirectoryServices.Protocols` with a vulnerable version listed below on system based on Linux. Package name | Vulnerable versions | Secure versions ------------ | -------

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m across NuGet dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

GHSA-9cxh-gqpx-qc5m