GHSA-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp
LOWnotation-go has an OS error when setting CRL cache leads to denial of signature verification
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.
Blast Radius
github.com/notaryproject/notation-goReal-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
Summary
The issue was identified during Quarkslab's security audit on the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) based revocation check feature. After retrieving the CRL, notation-go attempts to update the CRL cache using the os.Rename method. However, this operation may fail due to operating system-specific limitations, particularly when the source and destination paths are on different mount points. This failure could lead to an unexpected program termination.
Details
In method crl.(*FileCache).Set, a temporary file is created in the OS dedicated area (like /tmp for, usually, Linux/Unix). The file is written and then it is tried to move it to the dedicated notation cache directory thanks os.Rename. As specified in Go documentation, OS specific restriction may apply. When used with Linux OS, it is relying on rename syscall from the libc and as per the documentation, moving a file to a different mountpoint raises an EXDEV error, interpreted as Cross device link not permitted error.
Some Linux distribution, like RedHat use a dedicated filesystem (tmpfs), mounted on a specific mountpoint (usually /tmp) for temporary files. When using such OS, revocation check based on CRL will repeatedly crash notation.
PoC
- Ensure that the temporary file storage area (e.g., /tmp) is mounted on a different mount point than the user's 'notation' cache directory.
- Either disable the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) revocation check, or utilize certificates that exclusively support Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) for revocation check.
- Try to verify a previously generated signature using the 'notation' tool.
Impact
The signature verification process is aborted as process crashes.
Remediation
The cache file should be created, written, then copied to the wanted final location, and finally removed. Additionally, this error shouldn't lead to a crash as it is not fatal and shouldn't prevent the rest of the program to properly continue
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/notaryproject/notation-go | ≥ 1.3.0-rc.1&&< 1.3.0-rc.2 | 1.3.0-rc.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/notaryproject/notation-go. 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 github.com/notaryproject/notation-go to 1.3.0-rc.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp 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-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp 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-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp. 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-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-qjh3-4j3h-vmwp across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.