CVE-2023-22795: Actionpack Denial of Service Vulnerability
LOWCVE-2023-22795 is a LOW denial of service vulnerability (CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity) affecting Actionpack libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves redos based dos vulnerability in action dispatch. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1.
CVE-2023-22795 at a Glance
How to Fix CVE-2023-22795
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Actionpack dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
Upgrade actionpack to 6.1.7.1
Upgrade actionpack to 7.0.4.1
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
inspect dependencies for actionpack
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-22795, inspect your project dependencies for Actionpack:
inspect dependencies for actionpack
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Actionpack in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 6.1.7.1), 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-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity, where the product uses a regular expression with a worst-case computational complexity that is inefficient and possibly exponential. In Actionpack, 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
CVE-2023-22795 Affected Actionpack Versions
2 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
actionpack
|
RubyGems |
≥ 4.0.0.beta1
< 6.1.7.1
|
6.1.7.1
|
|
actionpack
|
RubyGems |
≥ 7.0.0
< 7.0.4.1
|
7.0.4.1
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-22795?
Which Actionpack versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2023-22795?
Is actionpack affected?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-22795?
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2023-22795?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-8xww-x3g3-6jcv",
"modified" : "2025-03-31T13:23:06Z",
"published" : "2023-01-18T18:20:51Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-22795" ],
"summary" : "ReDoS based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch",
"details" : "There is a possible regular expression based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch related to the If-None-Match header. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22795.\n\nVersions Affected: All Not affected: None Fixed Versions: 5.2.8.15 (Rails LTS), 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1\n\nImpact\n\nA specially crafted HTTP If-None-Match header can cause the regular expression engine to enter a state of catastrophic backtracking, when on a version of Ruby below 3.2.0. This can cause the process to use large amounts of CPU and memory, leading to a possible DoS vulnerability All users running an affected release should either upgrade or use one of the workarounds immediately.\nReleases\n\nThe FIXED releases are available at the normal locations.\nWorkarounds\n\nWe recommend that all users upgrade to one of the FIXED versions. In the meantime, users can mitigate this vulnerability by using a load balancer or other device to filter out malicious If-None-Match headers before they reach the application.\n\nUsers on Ruby 3.2.0 or greater are not affected by this vulnerability.\nPatches\n\nTo aid users who aren’t able to upgrade immediately we have provided patches for the two supported release series. They are in git-am format and consist of a single changeset.\n\n 6-1-Avoid-regex-backtracking-on-If-None-Match-header.patch - Patch for 6.1 series\n 7-0-Avoid-regex-backtracking-on-If-None-Match-header.patch - Patch for 7.0 series\n\nPlease note that only the 7.0.Z and 6.1.Z series are supported at present, and 6.0.Z for severe vulnerabilities. Users of earlier unsupported releases are advised to upgrade as soon as possible as we cannot guarantee the continued availability of security fixes for unsupported releases.",
"severity" : [ ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
"name" : "actionpack"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "4.0.0.beta1"
}, {
"fixed" : "6.1.7.1"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
"name" : "actionpack"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "7.0.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "7.0.4.1"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22795"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/8d82687f3b04b2803320b64f985308239a8c3d2f"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/8dc45950619a4c64d16fb9370570c996d201f9b0"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/cd461c3e64e09cdcb1e379d1c35423c5e2caa592"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/cve-2023-22795-possible-redos-based-dos-vulnerability-in-action-dispatch/82118"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/releases/tag/v6.1.7.1"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails/releases/tag/v7.0.4.1"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/actionpack/CVE-2023-22795.yml"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://rubyonrails.org/2023/1/17/Rails-Versions-6-0-6-1-6-1-7-1-7-0-4-1-have-been-released"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333" ],
"severity" : "LOW",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2023-01-18T18:20:51Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2023-02-09T20:15:00Z"
}
}