GHSA-r7p8-xq5m-436c
HIGHGHSA-r7p8-xq5m-436c is a high-severity (CVSS 7.4) CWE-226 vulnerability in org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-r7p8-xq5m-436c is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Eclipse Jetty: Early return from the JASPIAuthenticator code can potentially no clear ThreadLocal variables
Blast Radius
org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee10:jetty-ee10-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee9:jetty-ee9-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee8:jetty-ee8-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee10:jetty-ee10-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee9:jetty-ee9-jaspi☕org.eclipse.jetty.ee8:jetty-ee8-jaspi+3 moreReal-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
Description (as reported)
A security vulnerability has been identified in Jetty's JaspiAuthenticator.java.
The root cause is a failure to consistently clear authentication metadata stored in ThreadLocal during certain error or incomplete authentication flows.
Specifically, after a GroupPrincipalCallback is persisted into the ThreadLocal, the authentication process may exit prematurely — before the ThreadLocal storage is cleared — if a mandatory CallerPrincipalCallback is missing or an exception occurs.
This allows a subsequent, unprivileged user processed by the same worker thread to inherit these residual security roles, leading to Broken Access Control and Privilege Escalation.
See also attached PDF.
Impact
An unauthenticated user may gain ungrated privileges from a previous request (privilege escalation).
Patches
No patches yet.
Workarounds
Do not use Jetty's JASPI.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi | ≥ 12.1.0&&< 12.1.8 | 12.1.8 |
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee10:jetty-ee10-jaspi | ≥ 12.1.0&&< 12.1.8 | 12.1.8 |
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee9:jetty-ee9-jaspi | ≥ 12.1.0&&< 12.1.8 | 12.1.8 |
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee8:jetty-ee8-jaspi | ≥ 12.1.0&&< 12.1.8 | 12.1.8 |
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi | ≥ 12.0.0&&< 12.0.34 | 12.0.34 |
| ☕Maven | org.eclipse.jetty.ee10:jetty-ee10-jaspi | ≥ 12.0.0&&< 12.0.34 | 12.0.34 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi. 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 org.eclipse.jetty.ee11:jetty-ee11-jaspi to 12.1.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r7p8-xq5m-436c 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-r7p8-xq5m-436c 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-r7p8-xq5m-436c. 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-r7p8-xq5m-436c in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-r7p8-xq5m-436c across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.