GHSA-gxxj-g9v8-w28p — drupal/core
HIGHGHSA-gxxj-g9v8-w28p is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in drupal/core. A fix is available for drupal/core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Drupal core Arbitrary PHP code execution
Real-World Exposure
drupal/core🐘drupal/core🐘drupal/core🐘drupal/coreReal-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
The Drupal project uses the PEAR Archive_Tar library. The PEAR Archive_Tar library has released a security update that impacts Drupal. For more information please see: CVE-2020-28948 CVE-2020-28949
Multiple vulnerabilities are possible if Drupal is configured to allow .tar, .tar.gz, .bz2, or .tlz file uploads and processes them.
To mitigate this issue, prevent untrusted users from uploading .tar, .tar.gz, .bz2, or .tlz files.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.75 | 7.75composer require drupal/core:^7.75 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 8.0.0&&< 8.8.12 | 8.8.12composer require drupal/core:^8.8.12 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 8.9.0&&< 8.9.10 | 8.9.10composer require drupal/core:^8.9.10 |
| 🐘Packagist | drupal/core | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.9 | 9.0.9composer require drupal/core:^9.0.9 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for drupal/core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update drupal/core to 7.75 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-gxxj-g9v8-w28p 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-gxxj-g9v8-w28p can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-gxxj-g9v8-w28p. 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-gxxj-g9v8-w28p in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-gxxj-g9v8-w28p across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.