How severe is GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564?

GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564?

GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 affects the following packages: text-qrcode (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564?

No patched version of text-qrcode has shipped for GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.

How do I detect GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for text-qrcode, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 was published on September 1, 2020 and was last updated on October 1, 2021. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

Entropy Backdoor in text-qrcodeGHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564

CRITICAL

GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) vulnerability in text-qrcode. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Published

Sep 1, 2020

Updated

Oct 1, 2021

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

None yet

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 1, 2021 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

📦text-qrcode

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

All versions of text-qrcode contain malicious code that overwrites the randomBytes method for the crypto module with a function that generates weak entropy. Instead of generating 32 bytes, the infected randomBytes will generate 3 bytes of entropy and hash them, resulting in a 32 byte value being returned, but one that is easily guessable.

Recommendation

Uninstall text-qrcode immediately. If the module was used to generate entropy that is load bearing, all such instances of generated entropy must be replaced. This includes things like bitcoin wallets, private keys, encrypted messages, etc.

Affected Packages

1 total

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`text-qrcode`	≥ 0.0.0	No fix

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for text-qrcode, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of text-qrcode has shipped for GHSA-h5vj-f7r9-w564 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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.

Frequently Asked Questions

All versions of `text-qrcode` contain malicious code that overwrites the `randomBytes` method for the `crypto` module with a function that generates weak entropy. Instead of generating 32 bytes, the infected randomBytes will generate 3 bytes of entropy and hash them, resulting in a 32 byte value being returned, but one that is easily guessable. ## Recommendation Uninstall `text-qrcode` immediately. If the module was used to generate entropy that is load bearing, all such instances of generated entropy must be replaced. This includes things like bitcoin wallets, private keys, encrypted mess

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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