How severe is GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x?

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x has a CVSS score of 5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x?

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x affects the following packages: codeigniter4/shield (Packagist). Ecosystems affected: Packagist.

How do I fix GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x?

Update codeigniter4/shield to 1.0.0-beta.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x in my Packagist dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/shield, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x 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-v427-c49j-8w6x?

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.3%, placing it in the 21th 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-v427-c49j-8w6x?

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x is classified as CWE-312 (CWE-312). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x was published on November 23, 2023 and was last updated on September 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐘

🐘 Packagist

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in HMAC SHA256 AuthenticationGHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x

MEDIUMFix: codeigniter4/shield@f77c6ae

GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) CWE-312 vulnerability in codeigniter4/shield. A fix is available for codeigniter4/shield — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Also known asCVE-2023-48707

Published

Nov 23, 2023

Updated

Sep 10, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 7, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs21th percentile — riskier than 21% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐘codeigniter4/shield

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Impact

secretKey, an important key for HMAC SHA256 authentication, was stored in the database in raw form.

If a malicious person somehow had access to the data in the database, they could use the key and secretKey for HMAC SHA256 authentication to send requests impersonating that person.

Patches

Upgrade to Shield v1.0.0-beta.8 or later.

After upgrading, all existing secret keys must be encrypted. See https://github.com/codeigniter4/shield/blob/develop/UPGRADING.md for details.

Workarounds

None.

References

https://codeigniter4.github.io/shield/references/authentication/hmac/

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue or discussion in codeigniter4/shield
Email us at [email protected]

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐘Packagist	`codeigniter4/shield`	all versions	1.0.0-beta.8`composer require codeigniter4/shield:^1.0.0-beta.8`

Affected Products

1 product · 7 configurations

Application

shieldcodeigniter

1 version

1.0.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for codeigniter4/shield, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update codeigniter4/shield to 1.0.0-beta.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-v427-c49j-8w6x 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact **secretKey**, an important key for HMAC SHA256 authentication, was stored in the database in raw form. If a malicious person somehow had access to the data in the database, they could use the key and secretKey for HMAC SHA256 authentication to send requests impersonating that person. ### Patches Upgrade to Shield v1.0.0-beta.8 or later. After upgrading, all existing secret keys must be encrypted. See https://github.com/codeigniter4/shield/blob/develop/UPGRADING.md for details. ### Workarounds None. ### References - https://codeigniter4.github.io/shield/references/authenticatio