GHSA-cc65-xxvf-f7r9
HIGHScrapy vulnerable to ReDoS via XMLFeedSpider
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.
Blast Radius
scrapy🐍scrapyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
The following parts of the Scrapy API were found to be vulnerable to a ReDoS attack:
-
The
XMLFeedSpiderclass or any subclass that uses the default node iterator:iternodes, as well as direct uses of thescrapy.utils.iterators.xmliterfunction. -
Scrapy 2.6.0 to 2.11.0: The
open_in_browserfunction for a response without a base tag.
Handling a malicious response could cause extreme CPU and memory usage during the parsing of its content, due to the use of vulnerable regular expressions for that parsing.
Patches
Upgrade to Scrapy 2.11.1.
If you are using Scrapy 1.8 or a lower version, and upgrading to Scrapy 2.11.1 is not an option, you may upgrade to Scrapy 1.8.4 instead.
Workarounds
For XMLFeedSpider, switch the node iterator to xml or html.
For open_in_browser, before using the function, either manually review the response content to discard a ReDos attack or manually define the base tag to avoid its automatic definition by open_in_browser later.
Acknowledgements
This security issue was reported by @nicecatch2000 through huntr.com.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | scrapy | ≥ 2&&< 2.11.1 | 2.11.1 |
| 🐍PyPI | scrapy | all versions | 1.8.4 |
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 scrapy. 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 scrapy to 2.11.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-cc65-xxvf-f7r9 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-cc65-xxvf-f7r9 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-cc65-xxvf-f7r9. 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-cc65-xxvf-f7r9 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-cc65-xxvf-f7r9 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.