GHSA-pgjx-7f9g-9463 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in next-auth. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-pgjx-7f9g-9463 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Improper handling of email input
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, a proxy for how much of the ecosystem is exposed.
next-authnpmDescription
Impact
An attacker can pass a compromised input to the e-mail signin endpoint that contains some malicious HTML, tricking the e-mail server to send it to the user, so they can perform a phishing attack. Eg.: [email protected], <a href="http://attacker.com">Before signing in, claim your money!</a>. This was previously sent to [email protected], and the content of the email containing a link to the attacker's site was rendered in the HTML. This has been remedied in the following releases, by simply not rendering that e-mail in the HTML, since it should be obvious to the receiver what e-mail they used:
next-auth v3 users before version 3.29.8 are impacted. (We recommend upgrading to v4, as v3 is considered unmaintained. See our migration guide)
next-auth v4 users before version 4.8.0 are impacted.
Patches
We've released patches for this vulnerability in:
- v3 -
3.29.8 - v4 -
4.9.0
You can do:
npm i next-auth@latest
# or
yarn add next-auth@latest
#
pnpm add next-auth@latest
(This will update to the latest v4 version, but you can change latest to 3 if you want to stay on v3. This is not recommended.)
Workarounds
If for some reason you cannot upgrade, the workaround requires you to sanitize the email parameter that is passed to sendVerificationRequest and rendered in the HTML. If you haven't created a custom sendVerificationRequest, you only need to upgrade. Otherwise, make sure to either exclude email from the HTML body or efficiently sanitize it. Check out https://next-auth.js.org/providers/email#customizing-emails
References
Related documentation:
- https://next-auth.js.org/providers/email#customizing-emails
- https://next-auth.js.org/getting-started/upgrade-v4
A test case has been added so this kind of issue will be checked before publishing. See: https://github.com/nextauthjs/next-auth/blob/cd6ccfde898037290ae949d500ace8a378376cd8/packages/next-auth/tests/email.test.ts
For more information
If you have any concerns, we request responsible disclosure, outlined here: https://next-auth.js.org/security#reporting-a-vulnerability
Timeline
The issue was reported 2022 June 29th, a response was sent out to the reporter in less than 1 hour, and after identifying the issue a patch was published within 4 working days.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | next-auth | all versions | 3.29.8 |
| 📦npm | next-auth | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.9.0 | 4.9.0 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for next-auth. 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 next-auth to 3.29.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pgjx-7f9g-9463 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-pgjx-7f9g-9463 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-pgjx-7f9g-9463. 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-pgjx-7f9g-9463 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-pgjx-7f9g-9463 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.