GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v — parse-server
Fix: parse-community/parse-server#10219GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v is a Improper Authentication vulnerability in parse-server. A fix is available for parse-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Parse Server affected by empty authData bypassing credential requirement on signup
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v.
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.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
parse-servernpmDescription
Parse Server is an open source backend that can be deployed to any infrastructure that can run Node.js. Prior to 9.6.0-alpha.29 and 8.6.49, a user can sign up without providing credentials by sending an empty authData object, bypassing the username and password requirement. This allows the creation of authenticated sessions without proper credentials, even when anonymous users are disabled. The fix in 9.6.0-alpha.29 and 8.6.49 ensures that empty or non-actionable authData is treated the same as absent authData for the purpose of credential validation on new user creation. Username and password are now required when no valid auth provider data is present. As a workaround, use a Cloud Code beforeSave trigger on the _User class to reject signups where authData is empty and no username/password is provided.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | parse-server | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.6.0-alpha.29 | 9.6.0-alpha.29npm install parse-server@9.6.0-alpha.29 |
| 📦npm | parse-server | all versions | 8.6.49npm install parse-server@8.6.49 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for parse-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update parse-server to 9.6.0-alpha.29 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v. 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-wjqw-r9x4-j59v in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-wjqw-r9x4-j59v across npm dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.