How severe is GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx?

GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx has a CVSS score of 7.5/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx?

GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx affects the following packages: zendframework/zend-captcha (Packagist), zendframework/zend-captcha (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx?

Update zendframework/zend-captcha to 2.4.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zendframework/zend-captcha, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx?

O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Is GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx was published on June 7, 2024 and was last updated on December 4, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx — zendframework/zend-captcha

HIGHFix: zendframework/zend-captcha@43c276d

GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in zendframework/zend-captcha. A fix is available for zendframework/zend-captcha — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Zend-Captcha Information Disclosure and Insufficient Entropy vulnerability

Published

Jun 7, 2024

Updated

Dec 4, 2024

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Dec 4, 2024 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐘zendframework/zend-captcha🐘zendframework/zend-captcha

Real-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

In Zend Framework, Zend_Captcha_Word (v1) and Zend\Captcha\Word (v2) generate a "word" for a CAPTCHA challenge by selecting a sequence of random letters from a character set. Prior to this advisory, the selection was performed using PHP's internal array_rand() function. This function does not generate sufficient entropy due to its usage of rand() instead of more cryptographically secure methods such as openssl_pseudo_random_bytes(). This could potentially lead to information disclosure should an attacker be able to brute force the random number generation.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`zendframework/zend-captcha`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.4.9	2.4.9`composer require zendframework/zend-captcha:^2.4.9`
🐘Packagist	`zendframework/zend-captcha`	≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.5.2	2.5.2`composer require zendframework/zend-captcha:^2.5.2`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for zendframework/zend-captcha, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update zendframework/zend-captcha to 2.4.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx 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-mg4x-prh7-g4mx can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Zend Framework, `Zend_Captcha_Word` (v1) and `Zend\Captcha\Word` (v2) generate a "word" for a CAPTCHA challenge by selecting a sequence of random letters from a character set. Prior to this advisory, the selection was performed using PHP's internal `array_rand()` function. This function does not generate sufficient entropy due to its usage of rand() instead of more cryptographically secure methods such as `openssl_pseudo_random_bytes()`. This could potentially lead to information disclosure should an attacker be able to brute force the random number generation.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds GHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works