GHSA-c2hm-mjxv-89r4
Multiple soundness issues in lexical
Blast Radius
lexicalReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
lexical contains multiple soundness issues:
- Bytes::read() allows creating instances of types with invalid bit patterns
- BytesIter::read() advances iterators out of bounds
- The
BytesItertrait has safety invariants but is public and not markedunsafe write_float()callsMaybeUninit::assume_init()on uninitialized data, which is is not allowed by the Rust abstract machineradix()callsMaybeUninit::assume_init()on uninitialized data, which is is not allowed by the Rust abstract machine
The crate also has some correctness issues.
Alternatives
For quickly parsing floating-point numbers third-party crates are no longer needed. A fast float parsing algorithm by the author of lexical has been merged into libcore.
For quickly parsing integers, consider atoi and btoi crates (100% safe code). atoi_radix10 provides even faster parsing, but only with -C target-cpu=native, and at the cost of some unsafe.
For formatting integers in a #[no_std] context consider the numtoa crate.
For working with big numbers consider num-bigint and num-traits.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | lexical | all versions | 7.0.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for lexical. 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 lexical to 7.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-c2hm-mjxv-89r4 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-c2hm-mjxv-89r4 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-c2hm-mjxv-89r4. 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-c2hm-mjxv-89r4 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-c2hm-mjxv-89r4 across crates.io dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.