How severe is GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 affects the following packages: crawl4ai (PyPI). Ecosystems affected: PyPI.

How do I fix GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

Update crawl4ai to 0.8.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 in my PyPI dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for crawl4ai, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Is GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.9%, placing it in the 86th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94), CWE-913 (CWE-913). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Is there exploit tooling available for GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7?

A Nuclei detection template exists for GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 was published on June 16, 2026 and was last updated on July 20, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐍

🐍 PyPI

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 — crawl4ai

CRITICALFix: unclecode/crawl4ai#1855

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in crawl4ai. A fix is available for crawl4ai — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Crawl4AI: AST Sandbox Escape via gi_frame.f_back Chain - Pre-Auth RCE in Docker API

Also known asCVE-2026-53753PYSEC-2026-319

Published

Jun 16, 2026

Updated

Jul 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Sep 27, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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.
CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
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-qxjp-w3pj-48m7.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs86th percentile — riskier than 86% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐍crawl4ai

Real-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

Summary

The _safe_eval_expression() function in the computed fields feature uses an AST validator that only blocks attributes starting with underscore. Python generator and frame object attributes (gi_frame, f_back, f_builtins) do NOT start with underscore, enabling a complete sandbox escape to achieve arbitrary code execution.

The attack requires no authentication (JWT disabled by default) and is triggered via POST /crawl with a crafted extraction schema.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a POST /crawl request with a JsonCssExtractionStrategy schema containing a malicious computed field expression that:

Creates a generator to access gi_frame
Walks the frame chain via f_back
Reaches f_builtins containing the real __import__
Imports os and executes arbitrary commands

Impact

Unauthenticated remote code execution inside the Docker container. An attacker can execute arbitrary system commands, read/write files, and exfiltrate secrets.

Fix Details

Removed eval() from computed field expression path entirely -- expressions now log a warning and return default value
Deleted _safe_eval_expression() function and _SAFE_EVAL_BUILTINS (dead security-sensitive code)
function key with Python callables still works for SDK users
Replaced eval() in /config/dump with JSON-based input validated by Pydantic
Fixed hook_manager sandbox: stripped __builtins__, __loader__, __spec__ from injected modules; removed getattr, setattr, type, __build_class__ from allowed builtins

Workarounds

Upgrade to the patched version (recommended)
Enable JWT authentication via CRAWL4AI_API_TOKEN environment variable
Restrict network access to the Docker API

Credits

Song Binglin (q1uf3ng) - reported the AST sandbox escape
by111 (August829) - reported the hook sandbox __builtins__ escape and hardcoded JWT secret bypass
jannahopp - PR #1855 proposing eval removal
ntohidi - PR #1886 proposing allowlist approach

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐍PyPI	`crawl4ai`	all versions	0.8.7`pip install --upgrade 'crawl4ai==0.8.7'`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

crawl4aikidocode

< 0.8.7

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for crawl4ai, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update crawl4ai to 0.8.7 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

How to detect GHSA-qxjp-w3pj-48m7

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id ghsa-qxjp-w3pj-48m7 -u https://target

Template: Crawl4AI <= 0.8.6 - Remote Code Execution
Severity: critical
Impact: An unauthenticated attacker can execute arbitrary operating system commands inside the crawler container, read or tamper with crawled data, steal provider API keys held in the container environment, and pivot into any network the container can reach.
Remediation: Upgrade Crawl4AI to version 0.8.7 or later, where computed field expressions are disabled.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (aryu-ru, q1uf3ng, August829), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Summary The `_safe_eval_expression()` function in the computed fields feature uses an AST validator that only blocks attributes starting with underscore. Python generator and frame object attributes (`gi_frame`, `f_back`, `f_builtins`) do NOT start with underscore, enabling a complete sandbox escape to achieve arbitrary code execution. The attack requires no authentication (JWT disabled by default) and is triggered via `POST /crawl` with a crafted extraction schema. ### Attack Vector An attacker sends a `POST /crawl` request with a `JsonCssExtractionStrategy` schema containing a malici