GHSA-mc8v-mgrf-8f4m is a low-severity (CVSS 3) CWE-843 vulnerability in github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec. A fix is available for github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec — see the affected versions and patch details below.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-mc8v-mgrf-8f4m by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,987 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/opencontainers/distribution-specReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
In the OCI Distribution Specification version 1.0.0 and prior, the Content-Type header alone was used to determine the type of document during push and pull operations. Documents that contain both “manifests” and “layers” fields could be interpreted as either a manifest or an index in the absence of an accompanying Content-Type header. If a Content-Type header changed between two pulls of the same digest, a client may interpret the resulting content differently.
Patches
The OCI Distribution Specification will be updated to require that a mediaType value present in a manifest or index match the Content-Type header used during the push and pull operations.
Workarounds
Clients pulling from a registry may distrust the Content-Type header and reject an ambiguous document that contains both “manifests” and “layers” fields or “manifests” and “config” fields.
References
https://github.com/opencontainers/image-spec/security/advisories/GHSA-77vh-xpmg-72qh
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec/
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec | all versions | 1.0.1go get github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec@v1.0.1 |
Affected Products
fedorafedoraprojectopen container initiative distribution specificationlinuxfoundationopen container initiative image format specificationlinuxfoundationDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec to 1.0.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mc8v-mgrf-8f4m 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.
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.
As a consequence of the OCI Image Specification (and OCI Distribution Specification [1]), container runtime engines (like containerd, moby - Docker Engine, cri-o) deliver updates to adopt new `mediaType` field used for identification of the document type. Even though some Red Hat products rely on container engine, the…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| OADP-1.0-RHEL-8 | oadp/oadp-registry-rhel8:1.0.1-3 | RHSA-2022:0687 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | container-tools:rhel8-8070020220929222448.39077419 | RHSA-2022:7457 |
| Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Containers 1.7 | rhmtc/openshift-migration-controller-rhel8:v1.7.1-7 | RHSA-2022:1734 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.10 | cri-o-0:1.23.0-92.rhaos4.10.gitdaab4d1.el7 | RHSA-2022:0055 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 | openshift4/ose-docker-builder:v4.11.0-202208020235.p0.gb500d85.assembly.stream | RHSA-2022:5069 |
| RHACS-3.70-RHEL-8 | advanced-cluster-security/rhacs-collector-rhel8:3.70.0-2 | RHSA-2022:4880 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-mc8v-mgrf-8f4m in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.