GHSA-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.6) CWE-285 vulnerability in symfony/security. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Firewall configured with unanimous strategy was not actually unanimous in Symfony
Real-World Exposure
symfony/security🐘symfony/security🐘symfony/security-http🐘symfony/security-http🐘symfony/symfony🐘symfony/symfonyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Description
On Symfony before 4.4.0, when a Firewall checks an access control rule (using the unanimous strategy), it iterates over all rule attributes and grant access only if all calls to the accessDecisionManager decide to grant access.
As of Symfony 4.4.0, a bug was introduced that prevents the check of attributes as soon as accessDecisionManager decide to grant access on one attribute.
Resolution
The accessDecisionManager is now called with all attributes at once, allowing the unanimous strategy being applied on each attribute.
The patch for this issue is available here for the 4.4 branch.
Credits
I would like to thank Antonio J. García Lagar for reporting & Robin Chalas for fixing the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/security | ≥ 4.4.0&&< 4.4.7 | 4.4.7 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/security | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.0.7 | 5.0.7 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/security-http | ≥ 4.4.0&&< 4.4.7 | 4.4.7 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/security-http | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.0.7 | 5.0.7 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/symfony | ≥ 4.4.0&&< 4.4.7 | 4.4.7 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/symfony | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.0.7 | 5.0.7 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for symfony/security. 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 symfony/security to 4.4.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 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-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 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-g4m9-5hpf-hx72. 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-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-g4m9-5hpf-hx72 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.