GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7

Workarounds

If you cannot upgrade to Scrapy 2.14.2, consider the following mitigations.

• Disable the middleware: If you don't need the Referer header on follow-up requests, set REFERER_ENABLED to False.
• Set headers manually: If you do need a Referer, disable the middleware and set the header explicitly on the requests that require it.
• Set referrer_policy in request metadata: If disabling the middleware is not viable, set the referrer_policy request meta key on all requests to prevent evaluating preceding responses' Referrer-Policy. For example:

Request(
    url,
    meta={
        "referrer_policy": "scrapy.spidermiddlewares.referer.DefaultReferrerPolicy",
    },
)

Instead of editing requests individually, you can:

• implement a custom spider middleware that runs before the built-in referrer policy middleware and sets the referrer_policy meta key; or
• set the meta key in start requests and use the scrapy-sticky-meta-params plugin to propagate it to follow-up requests.

If you want to continue respecting legitimate Referrer-Policy headers while protecting against malicious ones, disable the built-in referrer policy middleware by setting it to None in SPIDER_MIDDLEWARES and replace it with the fixed implementation from Scrapy 2.14.2.

If the Scrapy 2.14.2 implementation is incompatible with your project (for example, because your Scrapy version is older), copy the corresponding middleware from your Scrapy version, apply the same patch, and use that as a replacement.

Since version 1.4.0, Scrapy respects the Referrer-Policy response header to decide whether and how to set a Referer header on follow-up requests.

If the header value looked like a valid Python import path, Scrapy would import the referenced object and call it, assuming it referred to a referrer policy class (for example, scrapy.spidermiddlewares.referer.DefaultReferrerPolicy) and attempting to instantiate it to handle the Referer header.

A malicious site could exploit this by setting Referrer-Policy to a path such as sys.exit, causing Scrapy to import and execute it and potentially terminate the process.

GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2.14.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Upgrade to Scrapy 2.14.2 (or later).

1. What is GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7? GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 is a high-severity security vulnerability in Scrapy (pip), affecting versions >= 1.4.0, <= 2.14.1. It is fixed in 2.14.2.
2. How severe is GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7? GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of Scrapy are affected by GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7? Scrapy (pip) versions >= 1.4.0, <= 2.14.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7? Yes. GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 is fixed in 2.14.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix GHSA-CWXJ-RR6W-M6W7? Upgrade Scrapy to 2.14.2 or later.