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GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq — nebula-mesh

Fix: forgekeep/nebula-mesh@7cb01ba

GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq is a CWE-312 vulnerability in github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh. A fix is available for github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh — see the affected versions and patch details below.

nebula-mesh: Operator session tokens stored in plaintext in the database

Also known asCVE-2026-53603GO-2026-5991
Published
Jul 14, 2026
Updated
Jul 21, 2026
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Sep 19, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

  • CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
  • 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-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs11th percentile — riskier than 11% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
🐹github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh

Real-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

Operator session tokens are stored in plaintext in the operator_sessions table (the token column is the PRIMARY KEY). The session token is a 32-byte random hex value sent directly in a cookie and valid for 24 hours.

  • internal/models/operator.go:61 — OperatorSession.Token holds the plaintext token.
  • internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:590 — CreateOperatorSession inserts sess.Token verbatim.
  • internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:603,642,681,698 — lookups/updates/deletes use WHERE token = ? against the plaintext value.

Anyone who can read the database (backup, snapshot, file copy, or SQL-level disclosure) obtains every active session token and can hijack operator sessions directly, with no further authentication.

This is functionally identical to the plaintext enrollment-token issue fixed in GHSA-ghmh-jhmj-wcmf. API keys (OperatorAPIKey.KeyHash) and enrollment tokens (EnrollmentToken.TokenHash) already store only a SHA256 hash; session tokens were missed.

Patches

Store only a SHA256 hash of the session token, mirroring API keys and enrollment tokens:

  1. Add a HashSessionToken helper (alongside the existing token-hash helpers).
  2. Migration to add a token_hash column.
  3. Update CreateOperatorSession, PromoteOperatorSession, and GetOperatorBySession to write/look up by hash.
  4. Drop the plaintext token column in a follow-up migration.

Sessions are ephemeral (24h TTL), so all active sessions can be invalidated on deployment — no backward compatibility needed.

Workarounds

Restrict and encrypt database backups; rotate the operator database. These mitigate exposure but do not fix the underlying storage of plaintext tokens.

Resources

  • internal/models/operator.go:58-66
  • internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:577-698
  • Migration 005_operators.up.sql:27
  • Prior related advisory: GHSA-ghmh-jhmj-wcmf

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gogithub.com/forgekeep/nebula-meshall versions0.3.8go get github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh@v0.3.8

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update github.com/forgekeep/nebula-mesh to 0.3.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

## Impact Operator session tokens are stored in plaintext in the `operator_sessions` table (the `token` column is the PRIMARY KEY). The session token is a 32-byte random hex value sent directly in a cookie and valid for 24 hours. - `internal/models/operator.go:61` — `OperatorSession.Token` holds the plaintext token. - `internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:590` — `CreateOperatorSession` inserts `sess.Token` verbatim. - `internal/store/sqlite_operators.go:603,642,681,698` — lookups/updates/deletes use `WHERE token = ?` against the plaintext value. Anyone who can read the database (backup, snaps
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

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GHSA-q4vm-pq3q-8wgq: nebula-mesh | O3 Security