GHSA-9h3p-52vh-959w — ingress-nginx
HIGHGHSA-9h3p-52vh-959w is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in k8s.io/ingress-nginx. A fix is available for k8s.io/ingress-nginx — see the affected versions and patch details below.
ingress-nginx's `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-method` Ingress annotation can be used to inject configuration into nginx
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-9h3p-52vh-959w.
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-9h3p-52vh-959w 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 377,166 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
k8s.io/ingress-nginx🐹k8s.io/ingress-nginxReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-method Ingress annotation can be used to inject configuration into nginx. This can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the ingress-nginx controller, and disclosure of Secrets accessible to the controller. (Note that in the default installation, the controller can access all Secrets cluster-wide.)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/ingress-nginx | all versions | 1.13.7go get k8s.io/ingress-nginx@v1.13.7 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/ingress-nginx | ≥ 1.14.0&&< 1.14.3 | 1.14.3go get k8s.io/ingress-nginx@v1.14.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for k8s.io/ingress-nginx, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update k8s.io/ingress-nginx to 1.13.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9h3p-52vh-959w 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-9h3p-52vh-959w can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9h3p-52vh-959w. 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-9h3p-52vh-959w in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9h3p-52vh-959w across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.