GHSA-9x82-rm84-c6x7 is a high-severity (CVSS 8) Code Injection vulnerability in org.dspace:dspace-api. A fix is available for org.dspace:dspace-api — see the affected versions and patch details below.
DSpace has possible Remote Code Execution (RCE) through Velocity Templates used by LDN
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-9x82-rm84-c6x7.
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-9x82-rm84-c6x7 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 377,333 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
org.dspace:dspace-api☕org.dspace:dspace-api☕org.dspace:dspace-apiReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Overview
Remote Code Execution (RCE) is possible via Velocity Templates used by DSpace for COAR Notify/LDN messages. This vulnerability impacts DSpace versions 8.0 <= 8.3, 9.0 <= 9.2. The attacker MUST already have DSpace administrator credentials in order to perform the attack.
This attack is related to the path traversal attack identified in GHSA-9qm4-rh6w-pq5x as it was the impactful part of the "proof-of-concept" attack chain.
Impact
When chained with the LDN Path Traversal Attack identified in GHSA-9qm4-rh6w-pq5x, it may be possible to execute Java directly from Velocity templates using reflection. This is a very high impact vulnerability, but the attack can only be performed by a user that has DSpace Administrator privileges. Disabling LDN (see below) removes all known attack paths.
Velocity is also used for email templating, but there is no known attack path via emails templates. Nonetheless, the patches below also apply to email templates.
Patches
The fix is included in DSpace 8.4, 9.3 and 10.0. Please upgrade to one of these versions or disable LDN (see below)
If users cannot upgrade immediately, it is possible to manually patch their DSpace backend. (No changes are necessary to the frontend.) A pull request exists which can be used to patch systems running DSpace 8.x or 9.x.
- Pull request for 9.x: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/pull/12548 (Downloadable patch file)
- Pull request for 8.x: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/pull/12549 (Downloadable patch file)
Apply the patch to a DSpace instance
If at all possible, DSpace project maintainers recommend disabling LDN (see below) or upgrading a DSpace site based on the upgrade instructions. However, if users are unable to do so, they can manually apply the above patches to their Space backend as follows:
- Download the appropriate patch file to the machine where DSpace backend is running
- From the
[dspace-src]folder, apply the patch, e.g.git apply [name-of-file].patch - Now, update the application's DSpace site (based loosely on the Upgrade instructions). This generally involves three steps:
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
mvn -U clean package(This will recompile all DSpace backend code) - Redeploy DSpace, e.g.
ant update(This will copy all newly built code to the application's installation directory). Depending on an application's setup users also may need to copy the updated "server" webapp over to their Tomcat webapps folder. - Restart Tomcat (or runnable JAR)
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
Workarounds
- In
dspace.cfgorlocal.cfg, disable LDN (setldn.enabled=false) if it is not crucial to the operation of the repository. (NOTE: LDN is disabled by default, so many DSpace sites may not use this feature) - Once users have patched theirr site or upgraded, they may safely enable LDN again.
Resources
This vulnerability is similar to vulnerabilities reported by Velocity itself:
- Velocity 2.2. CVE: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-13936
- This was patched in Velocity 2.3, and DSpace already includes this patch.
Credits
Discovered & reported by Pablo Picurelli Ortiz (@superpegaso2703), cybersecurity student at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Reported as a possible attack combined with the LDN Path Traversal vulnerability. Code fix developed by Kim Shepherd (@kshepherd) of The Library Code
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | ≥ 8.0-rc1&&< 8.4 | 8.4org.dspace:dspace-api:8.4 |
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | ≥ 9.0-rc1&&< 9.3 | 9.3org.dspace:dspace-api:9.3 |
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | ≥ 10.0-rc1&&< 10.0 | 10.0org.dspace:dspace-api:10.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.dspace:dspace-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.dspace:dspace-api to 8.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-9x82-rm84-c6x7 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-9x82-rm84-c6x7 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-9x82-rm84-c6x7. 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-9x82-rm84-c6x7 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-9x82-rm84-c6x7 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.