GHSA-mc8h-8q98-g5hr — remove_dir_all
Fix: XAMPPRocky/remove_dir_all@7247a8bGHSA-mc8h-8q98-g5hr is a security vulnerability in remove_dir_all. A fix is available for remove_dir_all — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Race Condition Enabling Link Following and Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition in remove_dir_all
Real-World Exposure
remove_dir_allReal-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
The remove_dir_all crate is a Rust library that offers additional features over the Rust standard library fs::remove_dir_all function. It suffers the same class of failure as the code it was layering over: TOCTOU race conditions, with the ability to cause arbitrary paths to be deleted by substituting a symlink for a path after the type of the path was checked.
Thanks to the Rust security team for identifying the problem and alerting us to it.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | remove_dir_all | all versions | 0.8.0cargo update -p remove_dir_all --precise 0.8.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for remove_dir_all, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update remove_dir_all to 0.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mc8h-8q98-g5hr 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-mc8h-8q98-g5hr can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-mc8h-8q98-g5hr. 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-mc8h-8q98-g5hr in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-mc8h-8q98-g5hr across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.