Follow Redirects improperly handles URLs in the url.parse() functionGHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc
MEDIUMFix: follow-redirects/follow-redirects#236GHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in follow-redirects. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for follow-redirects — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
follow-redirectsnpmDescription
Versions of the package follow-redirects before 1.15.4 are vulnerable to Improper Input Validation due to the improper handling of URLs by the url.parse() function. When new URL() throws an error, it can be manipulated to misinterpret the hostname. An attacker could exploit this weakness to redirect traffic to a malicious site, potentially leading to information disclosure, phishing attacks, or other security breaches.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | follow-redirects | all versions | 1.15.4npm install follow-redirects@1.15.4 |
Affected Products
follow redirectsfollow-redirectsResearch 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 follow-redirects, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update follow-redirects to 1.15.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop reflecting attacker-controlled destinations: resolve every redirect target against an allowlist of paths or hosts you own, prefer a server-side key over a full URL in the request, and reject absolute URLs entirely where the flow only ever needs a relative one.
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.
follow-redirects is a transitive dependency of Grafana, and does not affect Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Migration Toolkit for Virtualization 2.5 | migration-toolkit-virtualization/mtv-console-plugin-rhel9:2.5.5-3 | RHBA-2024:0928 |
| MTA-6.2-RHEL-8 | mta/mta-rhel8-operator:6.2.2-3 | RHSA-2024:1027 |
| MTA-6.2-RHEL-9 | mta/mta-ui-rhel9:6.2.3-2 | RHSA-2024:3989 |
| MTA-7.0-RHEL-9 | mta/mta-cli-rhel9:7.0.3-16 | RHSA-2024:3316 |
| MTR 1.2.4 | follow-redirects | RHSA-2024:0720 |
| multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.4 for RHEL 8 | multicluster-engine/console-mce-rhel8:v2.4.5-25 | RHBA-2024:3555 |
| NETWORK-OBSERVABILITY-1.5.0-RHEL-9 | network-observability/network-observability-console-plugin-rhel9:v1.5.0-89 | RHSA-2024:0853 |
| Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.9 for RHEL 8 | rhacm2/console-rhel8:v2.9.4-22 | RHBA-2024:3593 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jchw-25xp-jwwc in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.