Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Orval versions before 8.21.0 can turn a malicious API specification into executable JavaScript during client generation. The code runs when a generated Zod schema is imported, potentially compromising developer machines, CI systems, tests, or applications. Exposure depends on whether specifications or header defaults can be influenced by an attacker.
Executive priority
Prioritize immediate remediation where CI or production builds consume third-party, uploaded, or remotely retrieved API specifications. These environments may hold source code, deployment credentials, and release authority. Upgrade promptly and investigate if untrusted specifications were processed and generated modules imported.
Technical view
The Zod generator’s formatDefaultValue function failed to safely encode header-parameter defaults before placing them in a module-level template literal. Special template-literal content could become JavaScript and execute at module import time. The issue maps to improper encoding and code-generation weaknesses, including CWE-116, CWE-1336, and CWE-94.
Likely exposure
Highest risk exists where Orval before 8.21.0 processes externally supplied or insufficiently trusted OpenAPI or Swagger documents and generated Zod modules are subsequently imported. Internally controlled specifications reduce likelihood but do not eliminate supply-chain or repository compromise risk.
Exploitation context
The supplied CVSS 4.0 score is 9.3, reflecting network-reachable input, low complexity, no privileges, and no user interaction. The bundle reports that this CVE is not in KEV, and no supplied source establishes active exploitation. Treat practical exploitation status as unconfirmed.
Researcher notes
The affected implementation is packages/zod/src/index.ts, specifically formatDefaultValue. Execution occurs at import time rather than only while generating code, broadening the affected environments. The supplied advisory, patch commit, pull request, and release identify 8.21.0 as the fixed version. Public evidence supplied here does not establish exploitation in the wild.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Orval to version 8.21.0 or later.
- Regenerate affected Zod schemas using the upgraded version.
- Restrict code generation to trusted OpenAPI and Swagger specifications.
- Avoid importing previously generated schemas until their source and generation history are reviewed.
- Investigate exposed credentials if suspicious generated code was imported.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Orval versions across developer, CI, test, and build environments.
- Identify workflows generating Zod schemas from OpenAPI or Swagger inputs.
- Review specification provenance and header-parameter defaults for untrusted modifications.
- Confirm generated schemas were rebuilt with Orval 8.21.0 or later.
- Review relevant execution logs for unexpected activity during schema imports.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-116: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-1336: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-94: Code execution behavior lookup
Code execution and unsafe deserialization weaknesses often justify reviewing execution behavior and process telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-71871 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.3 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——GitHub_MVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
9.3CriticalVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/orval-labs/orval/security/advisories/GHSA-8j6p-r8jg-mxqhCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/orval-labs/orval/pull/3692CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/orval-labs/orval/commit/8ef1bfdf3f9bcaf9dabfbe2e42887f1c0e159ab6CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/orval-labs/orval/releases/tag/v8.21.0CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.