Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Validation Placeholders in CodeIgniter4GHSA-m6m8-6gq8-c9fj
CRITICALFix: codeigniter4/CodeIgniter4@6af6771GHSA-m6m8-6gq8-c9fj is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in codeigniter4/framework. A fix is available for codeigniter4/framework — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-m6m8-6gq8-c9fj.
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
codeigniter4/frameworkReal-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
This vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when you use Validation Placeholders.
The vulnerability exists in the Validation library, and validation methods in the controller and in-model validation are also vulnerable because they use the Validation library internally.
Patches
Upgrade to v4.3.5 or later.
Workarounds
Setting validation rules with an array.
E.g.:
$validation->setRules([
'email' => ['required', 'valid_email, 'is_unique[users.email,id,{id}]'],
]);
References
- https://codeigniter4.github.io/userguide/libraries/validation.html#validation-placeholders
- https://codeigniter4.github.io/userguide/incoming/controllers.html#validating-data
- https://codeigniter4.github.io/userguide/models/model.html#in-model-validation
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in codeigniter4/CodeIgniter4
- Email us at SECURITY.md
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | codeigniter4/framework | all versions | 4.3.5composer require codeigniter4/framework:^4.3.5 |
Affected Products
codeignitercodeigniterDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/framework, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update codeigniter4/framework to 4.3.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-m6m8-6gq8-c9fj is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-m6m8-6gq8-c9fj in your dependencies?
Find it across Packagist, including transitive dependencies.