GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in laminas/laminas-form. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Cross-site Scripting when rendering error messages in laminas-form
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-jq4p-mq33-w375.
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-jq4p-mq33-w375 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 365,950 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
laminas/laminas-form🐘laminas/laminas-form🐘laminas/laminas-formReal-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
When rendering validation error messages via the formElementErrors() view helper shipped with laminas-form, many messages will contain the submitted value. However, in vulnerable versions of laminas-form, the value was not being escaped for HTML contexts, which can potentially lead to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attack.
Patches
The following versions were issued to mitigate the vulnerability:
- 2.17.1
- 3.0.2
- 3.1.1
Workarounds
At the top of a view script where you call the formElementErrors() view helper, place the following code:
use Laminas\Form\ElementInterface;
use Laminas\View\PhpRenderer;
$escapeMessages = function (ElementInterface $formOrElement, PhpRenderer $renderer): void {
$messages = $element->getMessages();
if (! $messages) {
return;
}
$escaped = [];
array_walk_recursive(
$messages,
static function (string $item) use (&$escaped, $renderer): void {
$escaped[] = $renderer->escapeHtml($item);
}
};
$element->setMessages($escaped);
};
Before calling formElementErrors() with a form, fieldset, or element, call the above closure as follows
// Usage with a form
// $this is the view renderer
$escapeMessages($form, $this);
// Usage with a fieldset
// $this is the view renderer
$escapeMessages($fieldset, $this);
// Usage with a form element
// $this is the view renderer
$escapeMessages($element, $this);
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | laminas/laminas-form | ≥ 3.1.0&&< 3.1.1 | 3.1.1 |
| 🐘Packagist | laminas/laminas-form | ≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.0.2 | 3.0.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | laminas/laminas-form | all versions | 2.17.1 |
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 laminas/laminas-form. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update laminas/laminas-form to 3.1.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375. 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-jq4p-mq33-w375 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-jq4p-mq33-w375 across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.