GHSA-g6w6-r76c-28j7
HIGHGHSA-g6w6-r76c-28j7 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-862 vulnerability in github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-g6w6-r76c-28j7 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Incorrect Authorization in NATS nats-server
Real-World Exposure
github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2🐹github.com/nats-io/nats-streaming-serverReal-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
(This advisory is canonically https://advisories.nats.io/CVE/CVE-2022-24450.txt)
Problem Description
NATS nats-server through 2022-02-04 has Incorrect Access Control, with unchecked ability for clients to authorize into any account, because of a coding error in a long-extant experimental feature.
A client crafting the initial protocol-level handshake could, with valid credentials for any account, specify a target account and switch into it immediately. This includes any other tenant, and includes the System account which controls nats-server core operations.
For deployments not using multi-tenancy through NATS Accounts, there is still a vulnerability: normal users are able to choose to be in the System account.
An experimental feature to provide dynamically provisioned sandbox accounts was designed to allow a server administrator to turn on an option to allow clients to dynamically request a brand new account inline at connection time. This feature went nowhere, but lived on in the code and was used by a number of tests; support was never added to any client libraries or to the documentation.
A bug in handling the feature meant that if someone did in fact have valid account credentials, then they could specify any other existing account and they would be assigned into that account.
Release 2.7.2 of nats-server removes the feature. Because of the lack of client support and absence from protocol documentation, we feel this is safe operationally as well as the safest fix for the code.
Affected versions
NATS Server
- All 2.x versions up to and including 2.7.1.
- Fixed with nats-io/nats-server: 2.7.2
- NATS Server 1.x did not have accounts.
- Docker image: nats https://hub.docker.com/_/nats
NATS Streaming Server
- All versions embedding affected NATS Server:
- Affected: v0.15.0 up to and including v0.24.0
- Fixed with nats-io/nats-streaming-server: 0.24.1
- Docker image: nats-streaming https://hub.docker.com/_/nats-streaming
Impact
Existing users could act in any account, including the System account.
Workaround
None.
Solution
Upgrade the NATS server.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.7.2 | 2.7.2 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/nats-io/nats-streaming-server | ≥ 0.15.0&&< 0.24.1 | 0.24.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2. 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 github.com/nats-io/nats-server/v2 to 2.7.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-g6w6-r76c-28j7 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-g6w6-r76c-28j7 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-g6w6-r76c-28j7. 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-g6w6-r76c-28j7 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-g6w6-r76c-28j7 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.