GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc is a low-severity (CVSS 2.7) vulnerability in tough. A fix is available for tough — see the affected versions and patch details below.
tough cyclic delegation graphs are not detected
Real-World Exposure
toughReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
In a TUF repository, the targets role’s signature indicates which target files are trusted by clients. The role can delegate full or partial trust to other roles, meaning that that role is trusted to sign target file metadata. Delegated roles can further delegate trust to other delegated roles. When searching for metadata about a given target, tough failed to detect cyclical role delegations.
Impact
When interacting with TUF repositories which contain cyclical role delegations, tough will fail to detect the cycles and will exhaust its stack while recursively searching the delegation graph. The exhausted call stack will cause the process to abort.
Impacted versions: < v0.20.0
Patches
A fix for this issue is available in tough version 0.20.0 and later. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or later and ensure any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes.
Workarounds
There is no recommended work around. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or the latest version.
References
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory we ask that you contact AWS/Amazon Security via our vulnerability reporting page [1] or directly via email to [email protected]. Please do not create a public GitHub issue.
[1] Vulnerability reporting page: https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting
Acknowledgement
These issues were identified by the TUF-Conformance project. We would like to thank Google for collaborating on this issue through the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | tough | all versions | 0.20.0cargo update -p tough --precise 0.20.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tough, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update tough to 0.20.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc 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-j8x2-777p-23fc can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc. 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-j8x2-777p-23fc in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.