GHSA-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg — redlib
Fix: redlib-org/redlib@15147ceGHSA-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg is a Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in redlib. A fix is available for redlib — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Redlib allows a Denial of Service via DEFLATE Decompression Bomb in restore_preferences Form
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg.
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.
Real-World Exposure
redlibReal-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
A vulnerability has been identified in Redlib where an attacker can cause a denial-of-service (DOS) condition by submitting a specially crafted base2048-encoded DEFLATE decompression bomb to the restore_preferences form. This leads to excessive memory consumption and potential system instability, which can be exploited to disrupt Redlib instances. This vulnerability was introduced in 2e95e1fc6e2064ccfae87964b4860bda55eddb9a and fixed in 15147cea8e42f6569a11603d661d71122f6a02dc.
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?
This vulnerability allows a remote attacker with network access to exploit the preference restoration mechanism by providing a compressed payload that expands dramatically upon decompression. The issue arises because the system automatically decompresses user-supplied data without enforcing size limits, potentially leading to:
- Out-of-memory (OOM) conditions
- OS-level resource exhaustion, potentially leading to broader system instability or crashes
- Repeated exploitation, keeping the target system in a persistent degraded state
- Denial-of-service of any public instance
Patches
The problem has been patched in 15147cea8e42f6569a11603d661d71122f6a02dc. Users should upgrade to v0.36.0.
Workarounds
Until a patch is available, users can:
- Implement request size limits at the web server or application level to reject excessively large inputs.
- Disable or restrict the restore_preferences route (
/settings/encoded-restore) at the reverse-proxy level if not required. - Monitor server logs for unusually large or repeated restore_preferences requests and block offending IPs.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | redlib | all versions | 0.36.0cargo update -p redlib --precise 0.36.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for redlib, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update redlib to 0.36.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg 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-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg. 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-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-g8vq-v3mg-7mrg across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.