GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r — openmetadata-sdk
HIGHGHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r is a high-severity (CVSS 7.6) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk. A fix is available for org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Leaky JWTs in OpenMetadata exposing highly-privileged bot users
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.open-metadata:openmetadata-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
Summary
Calls issued by the UI against /api/v1/ingestionPipelines leak JWTs used by ingestion-bot for certain services (Glue / Redshift / Postgres)
Details
Any read-only user can gain access to a highly privileged account, typically which has the Ingestion Bot Role. This enables destructive changes in OpenMetadata instances, and potential data leakage (e.g. sample data, or service metadata which would be unavailable per roles/policies).
PoC
I was able to extract the JWT used by the bot/agent populating sample_athena.default in the Collate Sandbox. To prove this out, I mutated the description to this UUID: fe2e4cc1-da72-4acf-8535-112a3cfa9c7e, which you can see @ https://sandbox.open-metadata.org/database/sample_athena.default.
Steps to Reproduce
-
Create a Collate Sandbox account; these are non-admin accounts by default with minimal permissions.
-
Open the Developer Console
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Go to the Services Page. In this case, sample_athena, though other services
-
In the Network tab, introspect the request made to api/v1/services/ingestionPipelines, and find the jwtToken in the response:
<img width="1329" height="299" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0c405776-159e-4188-9591-ed8cc71bc596" /> -
Use the JWT to issue (potentially destructive) API calls
<img width="3024" height="1798" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ab40b528-4d2b-404b-8f8a-482a1693e179" /> -
Resulting mutated description:
<img width="622" height="399" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3fa630ff-93b5-4b7d-8e3c-220f8a84a23a" />
Note that this is also the case for these services, among others:
Proposed Remediation
Redact jwtToken in API payload. Implement role-based filtering - Only return JWT tokens to users with explicit admin/service account permissions (for Admins) Rotate Ingestion Bot Tokens in affected environments
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?
- Vulnerability Type: Privilege Escalation
- Risk: User impersonation, even for those with read-only access, can lead to destructive outcomes if malicious actors leverage the leaked JWT.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk | all versions | 1.11.8org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk:1.11.8 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.open-metadata:openmetadata-sdk to 1.11.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r 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-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r. 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-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-pqqf-7hxm-rj5r across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.