GHSA-rf4g-89h5-crcr
HIGHmelange affected by potential host command execution via license-check YAML mode patch pipeline
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
chainguard.dev/melangeReal-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
An attacker who can influence inputs to the patch pipeline could execute arbitrary shell commands on the build host. The patch pipeline in pkg/build/pipelines/patch.yaml embeds input-derived values (series paths, patch filenames, and numeric parameters) into shell scripts without proper quoting or validation, allowing shell metacharacters to break out of their intended context.
The vulnerability affects the built-in patch pipeline which can be invoked through melange build and melange license-check operations. An attacker who can control patch-related inputs (e.g., through pull request-driven CI, build-as-a-service, or by influencing melange configurations) can inject shell metacharacters such as backticks, command substitutions $(…), semicolons, pipes, or redirections to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the melange build process.
Fix: Fixed in bd132535 , Released in 0.40.3.
Acknowledgements
melange thanks Oleh Konko (@1seal) from 1seal for discovering and reporting this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | chainguard.dev/melange | ≥ 0.10.0&&< 0.40.3 | 0.40.3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for chainguard.dev/melange. 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 chainguard.dev/melange to 0.40.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-rf4g-89h5-crcr 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-rf4g-89h5-crcr 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-rf4g-89h5-crcr. 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-rf4g-89h5-crcr in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-rf4g-89h5-crcr across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.