GHSA-hp87-p4gw-j4gq is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in gopkg.in/yaml.v3. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for gopkg.in/yaml.v3 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
gopkg.in/yaml.v3 Denial of Service
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-hp87-p4gw-j4gq 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 378,567 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
gopkg.in/yaml.v3Real-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
An issue in the Unmarshal function in Go-Yaml v3 can cause a program to panic when attempting to deserialize invalid input.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | gopkg.in/yaml.v3 | all versions | 3.0.1go get gopkg.in/yaml.v3@v3.0.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for gopkg.in/yaml.v3, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update gopkg.in/yaml.v3 to 3.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hp87-p4gw-j4gq 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-hp87-p4gw-j4gq can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-hp87-p4gw-j4gq. 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 has designated the CVE rating as 'moderate' as exploitation of Red Hat products is contingent upon the attacker being authenticated when sending the malicious XML payload.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Cryostat 2 on RHEL 8 | cryostat-tech-preview/cryostat-operator-bundle:2.1.1-2 | RHSA-2022:4985 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3 Containers | devspaces/devspaces-rhel8-operator:3.15-10 | RHSA-2024:4631 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-hp87-p4gw-j4gq in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-hp87-p4gw-j4gq across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.