tough cyclic delegation graphs are not detected

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

2.7 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

EPSS

No dated EPSS signal available.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary In a TUF repository, the targets role’s signature indicates which target files are trusted by clients. The role can delegate full or partial trust to other roles, meaning that that role is trusted to sign target file metadata. Delegated roles can further delegate trust to other delegated roles. When searching for metadata about a given target, tough failed to detect cyclical role delegations. Impact When interacting with TUF repositories which contain cyclical role delegations, tough will fail to detect the cycles and will exhaust its stack while recursively searching the delegation graph. The exhausted call stack will cause the process to abort. Impacted versions: < v0.20.0 Patches A fix for this issue is available in tough version 0.20.0 and later. Customers are advised to upgrade to version 0.20.0 or later and ensure any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes. Workarounds There is no recommended work around. Customers are advised to upgrade to…

Published by the source

28 Mar 2025, 22:13 UTC

Last modified by the source

3 Apr 2025, 06:18 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc

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# Patch Next advisory brief: GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc

Advisory: tough cyclic delegation graphs are not detected
IDs: GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/ghsa-j8x2-777p-23fc (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Low (CVSS 2.7)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: tough 0.20.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io tough: affected < 0.20.0; fixed in 0.20.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io tough: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on tough.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-j8x2-777p-23fc lists affected ranges: crates.io tough >=0 <0.20.0)

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