VTAdmin users that can create shards can deny access to other functionsGHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w
MEDIUMFix: vitessio/vitess#12843GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.1) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in vitess.io/vitess. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for vitess.io/vitess — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
vitess.io/vitessReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
Users can either intentionally or inadvertently create a shard containing / characters from VTAdmin such that from that point on, anyone who tries to create a new shard from VTAdmin will receive an error.
Attempting to view the keyspace(s) will also no longer work.
Creating a shard using vtctldclient does not have the same problem because the CLI validates the input correctly.
Patches
v16.0.2, corresponding to 0.16.2 on pkg.go.dev
Workarounds
- Always use
vtctldclientto create shards, instead of using VTAdmin - Disable creating shards from VTAdmin using RBAC
- Delete the topology record for the offending shard using the client for your topology server. For example, if you created a shard called
a/bin keyspacecommerce, and you are running etcd, it can be deleted by doing something like
% etcdctl --endpoints "http://${ETCD_SERVER}" del /vitess/global/keyspaces/commerce/shards/a/b/Shard
References
https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/issues/12842
Found during a security audit sponsored by the CNCF and facilitated by OSTIF.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | vitess.io/vitess | all versions | 0.16.2go get vitess.io/vitess@v0.16.2 |
Affected Products
vitesslinuxfoundationResearch 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 vitess.io/vitess, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update vitess.io/vitess to 0.16.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-pqj7-jx24-wj7w in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.