GHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g — datasette
HIGHGHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in datasette. A fix is available for datasette — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Reflected cross-site scripting issue in Datasette
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.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
datasetteReal-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
The ?_trace=1 debugging feature in Datasette does not correctly escape generated HTML, resulting in a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability.
This vulnerability is particularly relevant if your Datasette installation includes authenticated features using plugins such as datasette-auth-passwords as an attacker could use the vulnerability to access protected data.
Patches
Datasette 0.57 and 0.56.1 both include patches for this issue.
Workarounds
If you run Datasette behind a proxy you can workaround this issue by rejecting any incoming requests with ?_trace= or &_trace= in their query string parameters.
References
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open a discussion in simonw/datasette
- Email us at
swillison+datasette @ gmail.com
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | datasette | all versions | 0.56.1pip install --upgrade 'datasette==0.56.1' |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for datasette, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update datasette to 0.56.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g 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-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g. 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-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-xw7c-jx9m-xh5g across PyPI dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.