GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-863 vulnerability in litellm. A fix is available for litellm — see the affected versions and patch details below.
LiteLLM allows an authenticated internal_user to create API keys with access to routes that their role does not permit
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 382,205 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
litellmReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
LiteLLM prior to 1.83.14 allows an authenticated internal_user to create API keys with access to routes that their role does not permit. When generating a key, the allowed_routes field is stored without verifying that the specified routes fall within the user's own permissions. A key created with access to admin-only routes can then be used to reach those routes successfully, bypassing the role-based access controls that would otherwise block the request, enabling full privilege escalation from internal_user to proxy_admin.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | litellm | all versions | 1.83.14pip install --upgrade 'litellm==1.83.14' |
Affected Products
litellmlitellmDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for litellm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update litellm to 1.83.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This vulnerability is rated Important because an authenticated LiteLLM proxy user with the internal_user role may be able to create API keys that grant access to admin-only routes, escalating privileges to proxy_admin level. Exploitation requires network access to a LiteLLM proxy instance and valid credentials for a…
Update the litellm package to version 1.83.14 or later. Until updated builds are available, restrict LiteLLM proxy deployments so only trusted administrators can access key-generation and management routes. Audit existing API keys for allowed_routes grants that exceed the creating user role, and rotate keys where unauthorized admin-route access is found.Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-qrc4-49gv-mv9m in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.