GHSA-xg4x-w2j3-57h6
MEDIUMOctoPrint has Timing Side-Channel Vulnerability in API Key Authentication
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
octoprintReal-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
Impact
OctoPrint versions up to and including 1.11.5 are affected by a (theoretical) timing attack vulnerability that allows API key extraction over the network.
Due to using character based comparison that short-circuits on the first mismatched character during API key validation, rather than a cryptographical method with static runtime regardless of the point of mismatch, an attacker with network based access to an affected OctoPrint could extract API keys valid on the instance by measuring the response times of the denied access responses and guess an API key character by character.
Patches
The vulnerability will be patched in version 1.11.6.
Workaround
The likelihood of this attack actually working is highly dependent on the network's latency, noise and similar parameters. An actual proof of concept was not achieved so far. Still, as always administrators are advised to not expose their OctoPrint instance on hostile networks, especially not on the public Internet!
Credits
This vulnerability was discovered and responsibly disclosed to OctoPrint by Knox Liu.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | octoprint | all versions | 1.11.6 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for octoprint. 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 octoprint to 1.11.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xg4x-w2j3-57h6 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-xg4x-w2j3-57h6 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-xg4x-w2j3-57h6. 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-xg4x-w2j3-57h6 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-xg4x-w2j3-57h6 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.