GHSA-xc8x-vp79-p3wm
MEDIUMtwisted.web has disordered HTTP pipeline response
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
twistedReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Twisted is an event-based framework for internet applications. Prior to version 23.10.0rc1, when sending multiple HTTP requests in one TCP packet, twisted.web will process the requests asynchronously without guaranteeing the response order. If one of the endpoints is controlled by an attacker, the attacker can delay the response on purpose to manipulate the response of the second request when a victim launched two requests using HTTP pipeline. Version 23.10.0rc1 contains a patch for this issue.
Details
There's an example faulty program:
from twisted.internet import reactor, endpoints
from twisted.web import server
from twisted.web.proxy import ReverseProxyResource
from twisted.web.resource import Resource
class Second(Resource):
isLeaf = True
def render_GET(self, request):
return b'SECOND\n'
class First(Resource):
isLeaf = True
def render_GET(self, request):
def send_response():
request.write(b'FIRST DELAYED\n')
request.finish()
reactor.callLater(0.5, send_response)
return server.NOT_DONE_YET
root = Resource()
root.putChild(b'second', Second())
root.putChild(b'first', First())
endpoint = endpoints.TCP4ServerEndpoint(reactor, 8080)
endpoint.listen(server.Site(root))
reactor.run()
When two requests for /first and /second are sent in the same order, the second request will be responded to first.
echo -en "GET /first HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: a\r\n\r\nGET /second HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: a\r\n\r\n" | nc localhost 8080
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | twisted | all versions | 23.10.0rc1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for twisted. 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 twisted to 23.10.0rc1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xc8x-vp79-p3wm 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-xc8x-vp79-p3wm 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-xc8x-vp79-p3wm. 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-xc8x-vp79-p3wm in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-xc8x-vp79-p3wm across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.