CVE-2023-50448: Activeadmin Potential CSV Export Data Leak Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-356j-hg45-x525
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CVSS 8.4
CWE-200 CWE-1236
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-50448 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.4) potential csv export data leak vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Activeadmin libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves potential csv export data leak. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.12.0.

CVE-2023-50448 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-50448
GHSA Identifier GHSA-356j-hg45-x525
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.4
CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Affected Product Activeadmin
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.4

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required High (PR:H)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2023-50448

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Activeadmin dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

activeadmin fixed: 2.12.0 
Upgrade activeadmin to 2.12.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for activeadmin

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-50448, inspect your project dependencies for Activeadmin:

inspect dependencies for activeadmin

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Activeadmin in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.12.0), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In Activeadmin, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact In ActiveAdmin versions prior to 2.12.0, a concurrency issue was found that could allow a malicious actor to be able to access potentially private data that belongs to another user. The bug affects the functionality to export data as CSV files, and was caused by a variable holding the collection to be exported being shared across threads and not properly synchronized. The attacker would need access to the same ActiveAdmin application as the victim, and could exploit the issue by timing their request immediately before when they know someone else will request a CSV (e.g. via phishing) or request CSVs frequently and hope someone else makes a concurrent request. ### Patches Versions 2.12.0 and above fixed the problem by completely removing the shared state.

CVE-2023-50448 Affected Activeadmin Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.12.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
activeadmin
gem/activeadmin
RubyGems
< 2.12.0
2.12.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin/security/advisories/GHSA-356j-hg45-x525
NVD — CVE-2023-50448 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-50448
Activeadmin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin/pull/7336
Activeadmin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin
Activeadmin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/activeadmin/CVE-2023-50448.yml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-50448?
CVE-2023-50448 is a security vulnerability in Activeadmin involving Potential CSV export data leak under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.
Which Activeadmin versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.12.0 across affected packages: activeadmin.
What version fixes CVE-2023-50448?
Upgrading to 2.12.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is activeadmin affected?
Yes, activeadmin is affected in releases prior to 2.12.0. Upgrade your dependency to 2.12.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-50448?
CVE-2023-50448 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-50448?
CVE-2023-50448 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2023-50448?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for activeadmin'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-356j-hg45-x525",
  "modified" : "2024-01-02T14:10:48Z",
  "published" : "2023-12-15T23:44:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-50448" ],
  "summary" : "Potential CSV export data leak",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nIn ActiveAdmin versions prior to 2.12.0, a concurrency issue was found that could allow a malicious actor to be able to access potentially private data that belongs to another user.\n\nThe bug affects the functionality to export data as CSV files, and was caused by a variable holding the collection to be exported being shared across threads and not properly synchronized.\n\nThe attacker would need access to the same ActiveAdmin application as the victim, and could exploit the issue by timing their request immediately before when they know someone else will request a CSV (e.g. via phishing) or request CSVs frequently and hope someone else makes a concurrent request.\n\n### Patches\n\nVersions 2.12.0 and above fixed the problem by completely removing the shared state.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "activeadmin"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.12.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin/security/advisories/GHSA-356j-hg45-x525"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-50448"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin/pull/7336"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/activeadmin/activeadmin"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/activeadmin/CVE-2023-50448.yml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1236", "CWE-200" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-12-15T23:44:34Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-12-28T23:15:43Z"
  }
}