GHSA-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-347 vulnerability in dev.sigstore:sigstore-java. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
sigstore-java has vulnerability with bundle verification
Real-World Exposure
dev.sigstore:sigstore-javaReal-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
sigstore-java has insufficient verification for a situation where a validly-signed but "mismatched" bundle is presented as proof of inclusion into a transparency log
Impact
This bug impacts clients using any variation of KeylessVerifier.verify()
The verifier may accept a bundle with an unrelated log entry, cryptographically verifying everything but fails to ensure the log entry applies to the artifact in question, thereby "verifying" a bundle without any proof the signing event was logged.
This allows the creation of a bundle without fulcio certificate and private key combined with an unrelated but time-correct log entry to fake logging of a signing event. A malicious actor using a compromised identity may want to do this to prevent discovery via rekor's log monitors.
The signer's identity will still be available to the verifier. The signature on the bundle must still be on the correct artifact for the verifier to pass.
sigstore-gradle-plugin and sigstore-maven-plugin are not affected by this as they only provide signing functionality.
Steps To Reproduce
Build the java sigstore-cli at v1.0.0
git clone --branch v1.0.0 [email protected]:sigstore/sigstore-java
cd sigstore-java
./gradlew :sigstore-cli:build
tar -xf sigstore-cli/build/distributions/sigstore-cli-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.tar --strip-components 1
Create two random blobs
dd bs=1 count=50 </dev/urandom > blob1
dd bs=1 count=50 </dev/urandom > blob2
Sign each blob using the cli
./bin/sigstore-cli sign --bundle=blob1.sigstore.json blob1
./bin/sigstore-cli sign --bundle=blob2.sigstore.json blob2
Create a falsified bundle including the base64Signature and cert fields from blob1's bundle and the rekorBundle from blob2's bundle
jq --slurpfile bundle2 blob2.sigstore.json '.verificationMaterial.tlogEntries = $bundle2[0].verificationMaterial.tlogEntries' blob1.sigstore.json > invalidBundle.sigstore.json
Find the embedded artifact hash in the bundle, and compare to the sha256 sums of blob1 and blob2. See that the bundle tlog entry matches blob2.
cat invalidBundle.sigstore.json | jq -r '.verificationMaterial.tlogEntries[0].canonicalizedBody' | base64 -d | jq -r '.spec.data.hash.value'
sha256sum blob1 blob2
Verify the bundle against blob1
./bin/sigstore-cli verify --bundle=invalidBundle.sigstore.json blob1
# no errors???!
Patches
Patched in v1.1.0 release with https://github.com/sigstore/sigstore-java/pull/856 Added conformance test for all clients in: https://github.com/sigstore/sigstore-conformance/pull/166
Workarounds
- Verifiers can recreate the log entry and compare it to the provided log entry.
var bundle = Bundle.from(bundleFile, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
var rekorEntry = bundle.getEntries().get(0);
var calculatedHashedRekord =
Base64.toBase64String(
HashedRekordRequest.newHashedRekordRequest(
artifactDigest,
Certificates.toPemBytes(Certificates.getLeaf(bundle.getCertPath())),
bundle.getMessageSignature().get().getSignature())
.toJsonPayload()
.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
if (!Objects.equals(calculatedHashedRekord, rekorEntry.getBody())) {
throw new Exception("Provided verification materials are inconsistent with log entry");
}
- Verifiers can contact the log and discover if the artifact signing event has indeed been added to the log
var bundle = Bundle.from(bundleFile, StandardCharsets.UTF);
var artifactDigest = Files.asByteSource(Path.of(artifact).toFile()).hash(Hashing.sha256()).asBytes();
var sigstoreTufClientBuilder = SigstoreTufClient.builder().usePublicGoodInstance();
var trustedRootProvider = TrustedRootProvider.from(sigstoreTufClientBuilder);
var entry = RekorEntryFetcher.fromTrustedRoot(trustedRootProvider).getEntryFromRekor(artifactDigest, Certificates.getLeaf(bundle.getCertPath()), bundle.getMessageSignature().get().getSignature());
RekorVerifier.newRekorVerifier(trustedRootProvider.get()).verifyEntry(entry);
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | dev.sigstore:sigstore-java | ≥ 1.0.0&&< 1.1.0 | 1.1.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for dev.sigstore:sigstore-java. 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 dev.sigstore:sigstore-java to 1.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w 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-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w 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-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w. 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-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.