How severe is GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc has a CVSS score of 5.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc affects the following packages: org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

Update org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad to 5.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc 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-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc 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.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.5%, placing it in the 71th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc?

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc is classified as Improper Input Validation (CWE-20), CWE-770 (CWE-770). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc was published on March 5, 2022 and was last updated on May 15, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc: poi-scratchpad (Medium 5.5)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk71th percentile+1.44%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

☕org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad

Real-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

A shortcoming in the HMEF package of poi-scratchpad (Apache POI) allows an attacker to cause an Out of Memory exception. This package is used to read TNEF files (Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server). If an application uses poi-scratchpad to parse TNEF files and the application allows untrusted users to supply them, then a carefully crafted file can cause an Out of Memory exception. This issue affects poi-scratchpad version 5.2.0 and prior versions. Users are recommended to upgrade to poi-scratchpad 5.2.1.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad`	≥ 3.8-beta1&&< 5.2.1	5.2.1

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update org.apache.poi:poi-scratchpad to 5.2.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

A shortcoming in the HMEF package of poi-scratchpad (Apache POI) allows an attacker to cause an Out of Memory exception. This package is used to read TNEF files (Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange Server). If an application uses poi-scratchpad to parse TNEF files and the application allows untrusted users to supply them, then a carefully crafted file can cause an Out of Memory exception. This issue affects poi-scratchpad version 5.2.0 and prior versions. Users are recommended to upgrade to poi-scratchpad 5.2.1.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

GHSA-mqvp-7rrg-9jxc