GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in qs. A fix is available for qs — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Prototype Pollution Protection Bypass in qs
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
qsnpmDescription
Affected version of qs are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution because it is possible to bypass the protection. The qs.parse function fails to properly prevent an object's prototype to be altered when parsing arbitrary input. Input containing [ or ] may bypass the prototype pollution protection and alter the Object prototype. This allows attackers to override properties that will exist in all objects, which may lead to Denial of Service or Remote Code Execution in specific circumstances.
Recommendation
Upgrade to 6.0.4, 6.1.2, 6.2.3, 6.3.2 or later.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | qs | all versions | 6.0.4npm install qs@6.0.4 |
| 📦npm | qs | ≥ 6.1.0&&< 6.1.2 | 6.1.2npm install qs@6.1.2 |
| 📦npm | qs | ≥ 6.2.0&&< 6.2.3 | 6.2.3npm install qs@6.2.3 |
| 📦npm | qs | ≥ 6.3.0&&< 6.3.2 | 6.3.2npm install qs@6.3.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for qs, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update qs to 6.0.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 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-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat Quay include nodejs-qs as a build time dependency. Nodejs-qs is used by protractor for testing as build time, and is not included as runtime.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | rh-nodejs6-nodejs-qs-0:6.2.3-1.el6 | RHSA-2017:2672 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-gqgv-6jq5-jjj9 across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.