GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ

The Docker API server let a request control where LLM calls were sent and which environment variable an LLM token resolved from. Both could be abused to exfiltrate server-held secrets. The Docker API is unauthenticated by default.

Vector 1 - attacker base_url

/md, /llm, and /llm/job accepted a base_url in the request and used it as the LLM endpoint while still attaching the server's configured provider API key. An attacker set base_url to a server they control and received the provider key (and any provider keys the server holds) in the inbound request.

Vector 2 - arbitrary environment variable read via env:

LLMConfig(api_token="env:NAME") resolved NAME from the server environment with os.getenv. Because request bodies were deserialized into LLMConfig (via a crawler config / extraction strategy), an attacker could set api_token="env:SECRET_KEY" (or env:REDIS_PASSWORD, etc.) and, paired with an attacker base_url, exfiltrate that secret. Reading the server's SECRET_KEY enables forging authentication tokens.

Workarounds

• Upgrade to the patched version.
• Enable authentication (CRAWL4AI_API_TOKEN).
• Do not place sensitive secrets in the server environment alongside provider keys.

Credits

• Geo (geo-chen) - reported the LLM credential exfiltration via request base_url.
• Internal security audit (Crawl4AI maintainers) - the env: arbitrary-variable read.

Disclosure of LLM provider API keys and other server secrets to an attacker-controlled endpoint; reading the JWT SECRET_KEY can lead to authentication bypass.

Untrusted input controls the target URL of a server-initiated request, which may reach internal services not otherwise accessible from outside. Typical impact: access to internal metadata services, internal APIs, or cloud credentials.

GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ has a CVSS score of 8.2 (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 (0.8.8); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

• The LLM endpoints ignore a request-supplied base_url; the endpoint is always derived server-side from the provider name. The field is still accepted but no longer honored (no breaking 4xx).
• LLMConfig refuses env: resolution of protected environment-variable names (names containing SECRET/PASSWORD/PRIVATE, prefixes CRAWL4AI*/AWS_SECRET*, and SECRET_KEY/REDIS_PASSWORD/TOKEN). Normal provider keys (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY) are unaffected.

1. What is GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ? GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ is a high-severity server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in crawl4ai (pip), affecting versions <= 0.8.7. It is fixed in 0.8.8. Untrusted input controls the target URL of a server-initiated request, which may reach internal services not otherwise accessible from outside.
2. How severe is GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ? GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ has a CVSS score of 8.2 (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 crawl4ai are affected by GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ? crawl4ai (pip) versions <= 0.8.7 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ? Yes. GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ is fixed in 0.8.8. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-F989-C77F-R2CQ 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-F989-C77F-R2CQ 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-F989-C77F-R2CQ? Upgrade crawl4ai to 0.8.8 or later.