GHSA-hx53-jchx-cr52 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) vulnerability in symfony/symfony. A fix is available for symfony/symfony — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Symfony2 improper IP based access control
Real-World Exposure
symfony/symfony🐘symfony/symfonyReal-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
Damien Tournoud, from the Drupal security team, contacted us two days ago about a security issue in the Request::getClientIp() method when the trust proxy mode is enabled (Request::trustProxyData()).
An application is vulnerable if it uses the client IP address as returned by the Request::getClientIp() method for sensitive decisions like IP based access control.
To fix this security issue, the following changes have been made to all versions of Symfony2:
A new Request::setTrustedProxies() method has been introduced and should be used intead of Request::trustProxyData() to enable the trust proxy mode. It takes an array of trusted proxy IP addresses as its argument:
// before (probably in your front controller script)
Request::trustProxyData();
// after
Request::setTrustedProxies(array('1.1.1.1'));
// 1.1.1.1 being the IP address of a trusted reverse proxy
The Request::trustProxyData() method has been deprecated (when used, it automatically trusts the latest proxy in the chain -- which is the current remote address):
Request::trustProxyData();
// is equivalent to
Request::setTrustedProxies(array($request->server->get('REMOTE_ADDR')));
We encourage all Symfony2 users to upgrade as soon as possible. It you don't want to upgrade to the latest version yet, you can also apply the following patches:
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/symfony | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.19 | 2.0.19composer require symfony/symfony:^2.0.19 |
| 🐘Packagist | symfony/symfony | ≥ 2.1.0&&< 2.1.4 | 2.1.4composer require symfony/symfony:^2.1.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for symfony/symfony, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update symfony/symfony to 2.0.19 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hx53-jchx-cr52 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-hx53-jchx-cr52 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-hx53-jchx-cr52. 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-hx53-jchx-cr52 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-hx53-jchx-cr52 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.