GHSA-w5fq-8965-c969 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.9) CWE-285 vulnerability in github.com/juju/juju. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-w5fq-8965-c969 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Juju: CloudSpec method leaking cloud credentials
Real-World Exposure
github.com/juju/jujuReal-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
Impact
If a user has login permission to a controller and knows the controller model UUID, they can call the CloudSpec method on the Controller facade and get cloud credentials used to bootstrap the controller.
The CloudSpec API is called by workers running in the controller to maintain connection to the cloud - this aspect is not the issue. The API is also called by the CLI when killing (force destroying a controller with juju kill-controller). This is the problematic aspect. The API is exposed to any client caller where that client has nothing more than logon permission on the controller. What should happen is that getting access to the credential should be limited to those client connections where the authenticated user has superuser or model admin permission.
This affect 2.9, 3.6, 4.0.6 (snap from 4.0/edge channel).
The fix will allow non-confidential, public information like cloud endpoint etc to be read, but only controller superusers or model admins will be able to see the credential details.
Patches
No patch exists.
Workarounds
The only mitigation is to restrict ingress to the controller API port 17070 on all controller machines (for vm deployments) or the controller service (for k8s deployments). The Juju CLI and other clients like libjuju or JAAS require ingress to port 17070 so any restricted access will need to take into account those access requirements.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/juju/juju | all versions | 0.0.0-20260408003526-d395054dc2c3 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/juju/juju. 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 github.com/juju/juju to 0.0.0-20260408003526-d395054dc2c3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-w5fq-8965-c969 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-w5fq-8965-c969 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-w5fq-8965-c969. 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-w5fq-8965-c969 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-w5fq-8965-c969 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.