Focus on rubygems vulnerabilities and metrics.
Last updated: 08 Mar 2025, 23:25 UTC
This page consolidates all known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with rubygems. We track both calendar-based metrics (using fixed periods) and rolling metrics (using gliding windows) to give you a comprehensive view of security trends and risk evolution. Use these insights to assess risk and plan your patching strategy.
For a broader perspective on cybersecurity threats, explore the comprehensive list of CVEs by vendor and product. Stay updated on critical vulnerabilities affecting major software and hardware providers.
Total rubygems CVEs: 25
Earliest CVE date: 18 Jul 2012, 18:55 UTC
Latest CVE date: 12 Jan 2024, 21:15 UTC
Latest CVE reference: CVE-2024-21654
30-day Count (Rolling): 0
365-day Count (Rolling): 0
Calendar-based Variation
Calendar-based Variation compares a fixed calendar period (e.g., this month versus the same month last year), while Rolling Growth Rate uses a continuous window (e.g., last 30 days versus the previous 30 days) to capture trends independent of calendar boundaries.
Month Variation (Calendar): 0%
Year Variation (Calendar): -100.0%
Month Growth Rate (30-day Rolling): 0.0%
Year Growth Rate (365-day Rolling): -100.0%
Average CVSS: 5.38
Max CVSS: 8.8
Critical CVEs (≥9): 0
Range | Count |
---|---|
0.0-3.9 | 3 |
4.0-6.9 | 23 |
7.0-8.9 | 9 |
9.0-10.0 | 0 |
These are the five CVEs with the highest CVSS scores for rubygems, sorted by severity first and recency.
Rubygems.org is the Ruby community's gem hosting service. Rubygems.org users with MFA enabled would normally be protected from account takeover in the case of email account takeover. However, a workaround on the forgotten password form allows an attacker to bypass the MFA requirement and takeover the account. This vulnerability has been patched in commit 0b3272a.
rubygems.org is the Ruby community's primary gem (library) hosting service. Insufficient input validation allowed malicious actors to replace any uploaded gem version that had a platform, version number, or gem name matching `/-\d/`, permanently replacing the legitimate upload in the canonical gem storage bucket, and triggering an immediate CDN purge so that the malicious gem would be served immediately. The maintainers have checked all gems matching the `/-\d/` pattern and can confirm that no unexpected `.gem`s were found. As a result, we believe this vulnerability was _not_ exploited. The easiest way to ensure that a user's applications were not exploited by this vulnerability is to check that all of your downloaded .gems have a checksum that matches the checksum recorded in the RubyGems.org database. RubyGems contributor Maciej Mensfeld wrote a tool to automatically check that all downloaded .gem files match the checksums recorded in the RubyGems.org database. You can use it by running: `bundle add bundler-integrity` followed by `bundle exec bundler-integrity`. Neither this tool nor anything else can prove you were not exploited, but the can assist your investigation by quickly comparing RubyGems API-provided checksums with the checksums of files on your disk. The issue has been patched with improved input validation and the changes are live. No action is required on the part of the user. Users are advised to validate their local gems.
RubyGems.org is the Ruby community gem host. A bug in password & email change confirmation code allowed an attacker to change their RubyGems.org account's email to an unowned email address. Having access to an account whose email has been changed could enable an attacker to save API keys for that account, and when a legitimate user attempts to create an account with their email (and has to reset password to gain access) and is granted access to other gems, the attacker would then be able to publish and yank versions of those gems. Commit number 90c9e6aac2d91518b479c51d48275c57de492d4d contains a patch for this issue.
RubyGems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. An ordering mistake in the code that accepts gem uploads allowed some gems (with platforms ending in numbers, like `arm64-darwin-21`) to be temporarily replaced in the CDN cache by a malicious package. The bug has been patched, and is believed to have never been exploited, based on an extensive review of logs and existing gems by rubygems. The easiest way to ensure that an application has not been exploited by this vulnerability is to verify all downloaded .gems checksums match the checksum recorded in the RubyGems.org database. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue.
Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. Gem::GemcutterUtilities#with_response may output the API response to stdout as it is. Therefore, if the API side modifies the response, escape sequence injection may occur.
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. The gem owner command outputs the contents of the API response directly to stdout. Therefore, if the response is crafted, escape sequence injection may occur.
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. Since Gem::UserInteraction#verbose calls say without escaping, escape sequence injection is possible.
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. Since Gem::CommandManager#run calls alert_error without escaping, escape sequence injection is possible. (There are many ways to cause an error.)
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. A crafted gem with a multi-line name is not handled correctly. Therefore, an attacker could inject arbitrary code to the stub line of gemspec, which is eval-ed by code in ensure_loadable_spec during the preinstall check.
A Directory Traversal issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.7.6 and later through 3.0.2. Before making new directories or touching files (which now include path-checking code for symlinks), it would delete the target destination. If that destination was hidden behind a symlink, a malicious gem could delete arbitrary files on the user's machine, presuming the attacker could guess at paths. Given how frequently gem is run as sudo, and how predictable paths are on modern systems (/tmp, /usr, etc.), this could likely lead to data loss or an unusable system.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Directory Traversal vulnerability in gem installation that can result in the gem could write to arbitrary filesystem locations during installation. This attack appear to be exploitable via the victim must install a malicious gem. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in gem server display of homepage attribute that can result in XSS. This attack appear to be exploitable via the victim must browse to a malicious gem on a vulnerable gem server. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Improper Input Validation vulnerability in ruby gems specification homepage attribute that can result in a malicious gem could set an invalid homepage URL. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature vulnerability in package.rb that can result in a mis-signed gem could be installed, as the tarball would contain multiple gem signatures.. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a infinite loop caused by negative size vulnerability in ruby gem package tar header that can result in a negative size could cause an infinite loop.. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in owner command that can result in code execution. This attack appear to be exploitable via victim must run the `gem owner` command on a gem with a specially crafted YAML file. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Directory Traversal vulnerability in install_location function of package.rb that can result in path traversal when writing to a symlinked basedir outside of the root. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
RubyGems versions between 2.0.0 and 2.6.13 are vulnerable to a possible remote code execution vulnerability. YAML deserialization of gem specifications can bypass class white lists. Specially crafted serialized objects can possibly be used to escalate to remote code execution.
RubyGems version 2.6.12 and earlier is vulnerable to a DNS hijacking vulnerability that allows a MITM attacker to force the RubyGems client to download and install gems from a server that the attacker controls.
RubyGems version 2.6.12 and earlier fails to validate specification names, allowing a maliciously crafted gem to potentially overwrite any file on the filesystem.
RubyGems version 2.6.12 and earlier is vulnerable to maliciously crafted gem specifications to cause a denial of service attack against RubyGems clients who have issued a `query` command.
RubyGems version 2.6.12 and earlier is vulnerable to maliciously crafted gem specifications that include terminal escape characters. Printing the gem specification would execute terminal escape sequences.
RubyGems 2.0.x before 2.0.17, 2.2.x before 2.2.5, and 2.4.x before 2.4.8 does not validate the hostname when fetching gems or making API requests, which allows remote attackers to redirect requests to arbitrary domains via a crafted DNS SRV record with a domain that is suffixed with the original domain name, aka a "DNS hijack attack." NOTE: this vulnerability exists because to an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-3900.
RubyGems 2.0.x before 2.0.16, 2.2.x before 2.2.4, and 2.4.x before 2.4.7 does not validate the hostname when fetching gems or making API requests, which allows remote attackers to redirect requests to arbitrary domains via a crafted DNS SRV record, aka a "DNS hijack attack."
Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in Gem::Version::ANCHORED_VERSION_PATTERN in lib/rubygems/version.rb in RubyGems before 1.8.23.2, 1.8.24 through 1.8.26, 2.0.x before 2.0.10, and 2.1.x before 2.1.5, as used in Ruby 1.9.0 through 2.0.0p247, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted gem version that triggers a large amount of backtracking in a regular expression. NOTE: this issue is due to an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-4287.
Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in Gem::Version::VERSION_PATTERN in lib/rubygems/version.rb in RubyGems before 1.8.23.1, 1.8.24 through 1.8.25, 2.0.x before 2.0.8, and 2.1.x before 2.1.0, as used in Ruby 1.9.0 through 2.0.0p247, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted gem version that triggers a large amount of backtracking in a regular expression.
RubyGems before 1.8.23 does not verify an SSL certificate, which allows remote attackers to modify a gem during installation via a man-in-the-middle attack.
RubyGems before 1.8.23 can redirect HTTPS connections to HTTP, which makes it easier for remote attackers to observe or modify a gem during installation via a man-in-the-middle attack.
lib/mini_magick.rb in the MiniMagick Gem 1.3.1 for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a URL.
lib/entry_controller.rb in the fastreader Gem 1.0.8 for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a URL.
command_wrap.rb in the command_wrap Gem for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a URL or filename.
The JSON gem before 1.5.5, 1.6.x before 1.6.8, and 1.7.x before 1.7.7 for Ruby allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption) or bypass the mass assignment protection mechanism via a crafted JSON document that triggers the creation of arbitrary Ruby symbols or certain internal objects, as demonstrated by conducting a SQL injection attack against Ruby on Rails, aka "Unsafe Object Creation Vulnerability."
The Mail gem before 2.4.3 for Ruby allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in a (1) sendmail or (2) exim delivery.
Directory traversal vulnerability in lib/mail/network/delivery_methods/file_delivery.rb in the Mail gem before 2.4.4 for Ruby allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a .. (dot dot) in the to parameter.