GHSA-jqpw-qww5-cj4c
MEDIUMGHSA-jqpw-qww5-cj4c is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-409 vulnerability in n8n. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-jqpw-qww5-cj4c is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
n8n: Denial of Service via ZIP decompression in webhook workflow
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
n8nnpmDescription
Impact
The Compression node's Decompress operation expanded attacker-controlled archives into memory without enforcing limits on decompressed output size. An unauthenticated attacker could send a small compressed archive to a public webhook workflow using this node, causing the n8n process to terminate due to memory exhaustion and disrupting all workflows in the same instance.
Patches
The issue has been fixed in n8n version 2.24.0. Users should upgrade to this version or later to remediate the vulnerability. The fix introduces configurable limits on decompressed output size (N8N_COMPRESSION_NODE_MAX_DECOMPRESSED_SIZE_BYTES) and ZIP entry count (N8N_COMPRESSION_NODE_MAX_ZIP_ENTRIES).
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, administrators should consider the following temporary mitigations:
- Disable the Compression node by adding
n8n-nodes-base.compressionto theNODES_EXCLUDEenvironment variable. - Restrict public webhook workflows that accept archive file uploads to authenticated endpoints only.
These workarounds do not fully remediate the risk and should only be used as short-term mitigation measures.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | n8n | all versions | 2.24.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for n8n. 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 n8n to 2.24.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jqpw-qww5-cj4c 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-jqpw-qww5-cj4c 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-jqpw-qww5-cj4c. 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-jqpw-qww5-cj4c in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-jqpw-qww5-cj4c across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.