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)?

Assume what was exposed is already known: rotate any credential, token or key that the affected component could return, restrict the endpoint to callers that genuinely need it, and strip sensitive fields from responses and error output at the boundary rather than relying on the client not to read them.

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

Zend-Captcha Information Disclosure and Insufficient Entropy vulnerabilityGHSA-mg4x-prh7-g4mx

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.

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
Assume what was exposed is already known: rotate any credential, token or key that the affected component could return, restrict the endpoint to callers that genuinely need it, and strip sensitive fields from responses and error output at the boundary rather than relying on the client not to read them.

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

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