GHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 — ghost
HIGHGHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.5) CWE-284 vulnerability in ghost. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for ghost — see the affected versions and patch details below.
ghost vulnerable to unauthorized newsletter modification via improper access controls
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6.
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-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 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 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% 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.
ghostnpmDescription
Impact
On sites where members is enabled (this is the default) it is possible for members (unprivileged users) to make changes to newsletter settings. This gives unprivileged users the ability to view and change settings they were not intended to have access to. They are not able to escalate their privileges permanently or get access to further information. This issue was caused by a gap in our API validation for nested objects.
Ghost(Pro) has already been patched. We can find no evidence that the issue was exploited on Ghost(Pro) prior to the patch being added.
Self-hosters are impacted if running Ghost a version between v4.46.0 and v4.48.7 or any version of v5 prior to v5.22.7. Immediate action should be taken to secure your site - see patches & workarounds below.
Patches
- v4.48.8 / v5.22.7 are patched for all known exploits.
- v4.48.9 / v5.24.1 contain deeper fixes to the API to close the potential for this vulnerability to appear elsewhere or regress
Workarounds
The known exploit can be prevented by disabling members until an update can be performed.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Email us at [email protected]
Credits: Dave McDaniel and other members of Cisco Talos
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | ghost | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.22.7 | 5.22.7npm install ghost@5.22.7 |
| 📦npm | ghost | ≥ 4.46.0&&< 4.48.8 | 4.48.8npm install ghost@4.48.8 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
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 5.22.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 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-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6. 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-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9gh8-wp53-ccc6 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.