GHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q — nesbot/carbon
Fix: briannesbitt/Carbon@129700eGHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q is a CWE-98 vulnerability in nesbot/carbon. A fix is available for nesbot/carbon — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Carbon has an arbitrary file include via unvalidated input passed to Carbon::setLocale
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q.
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.
Real-World Exposure
nesbot/carbon🐘nesbot/carbonReal-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
Impact
Application passing unsanitized user input to Carbon::setLocale are at risk of arbitrary file include, if the application allows users to upload files with .php extension in an folder that allows include or require to read it, then they are at risk of arbitrary code ran on their servers.
Patches
Workarounds
Any of the below actions can be taken to prevent the issue:
- Validate input before calling
setLocale(), for instance by forbidding or removing/and\ - Call
setLocale()only with a locale from a whitelist of supported locales - When uploading files, rename them so they cannot have a
.phpextension (this is recommended even if you're not affected by this issue) - Prefer storage system that are not local to the application (remote service, or local service ran by another user so the uploaded files actually live outside of the application basedir)
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_inclusion_vulnerability
Credits
Thanks to Szczepan Hołyszewski who reported the issue and to Tidelift to coordinate the resolution
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | nesbot/carbon | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.8.4 | 3.8.4composer require nesbot/carbon:^3.8.4 |
| 🐘Packagist | nesbot/carbon | all versions | 2.72.6composer require nesbot/carbon:^2.72.6 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for nesbot/carbon, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update nesbot/carbon to 3.8.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q 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-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q. 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-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-j3f9-p6hm-5w6q across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.