GHSA-mhgm-52vg-pvvc — strongbox-sdk
Fix: schibsted/strongbox@e61f7c3GHSA-mhgm-52vg-pvvc is a security vulnerability in com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk. A fix is available for com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Privilege escalation in Strongbox
Real-World Exposure
com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdkReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
An attacker with read-only access to a Strongbox secret could craft a valid encrypted secret (same id/version). It also makes the audit logs from KMS less useful. The issue is caused by a bug in the underlying AWS Encryption SDK.
By default, the encrypted secrets are stored in DynamoDB and an attacker with read-only access would not be able to write the encrypted secret to DynamoDB. So in practice the impact should be limited for most users.
Strongbox supports storing data in files as an alternative to DynamoDB. If the attacker had write access to where the files are stored they could make the attack work end-to-end. Similarly, any custom storage backend could also be affected.
In order to be backwards compatible Strongbox will not make use of key commitments (another improvement to the AWS Encryption SDK). Strongbox enforces that only one KMS key can be used, and it must match the expected one. This means that an attacker needs write access to both KMS and DynamoDB (or other storage backend) to stage an attack, which is not a scenario Strongbox is designed to protect against.
Patches
Fixed in version 0.5.0.
Workarounds
None
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk | all versions | 0.5.0com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk:0.5.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.schibsted.security:strongbox-sdk to 0.5.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mhgm-52vg-pvvc 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-mhgm-52vg-pvvc can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-mhgm-52vg-pvvc. 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-mhgm-52vg-pvvc in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-mhgm-52vg-pvvc across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.