CVE-2014-3514: Activerecord Active Record Subject To Strong Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-9rf5-jm6f-2fmm
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CWE-284
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2014-3514 is a HIGH active record subject to strong vulnerability (CWE-284: Improper Access Control) affecting Activerecord libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves active record subject to strong parameters protection bypass. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.0.9, 4.1.5.

CVE-2014-3514 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2014-3514
GHSA Identifier GHSA-9rf5-jm6f-2fmm
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Affected Product Activerecord
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2014-3514

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

activerecord fixed: 4.0.9 
Upgrade activerecord to 4.0.9
activerecord fixed: 4.1.5 
Upgrade activerecord to 4.1.5
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 activerecord

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2014-3514, inspect your project dependencies for Activerecord:

inspect dependencies for activerecord

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Activerecord in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.0.9), 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-284: Improper Access Control, where the product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor. In Activerecord, 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

`activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb` in Active Record in Ruby on Rails 4.0.x before 4.0.9 and 4.1.x before 4.1.5 allows remote attackers to bypass the strong parameters protection mechanism via crafted input to an application that makes `create_with` calls.

CVE-2014-3514 Affected Activerecord Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.0.94.1.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
activerecord
gem/activerecord
RubyGems
≥ 4.0.0
< 4.0.9
4.0.9
activerecord
gem/activerecord
RubyGems
≥ 4.1.0
< 4.1.5
4.1.5

References

NVD — CVE-2014-3514 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3514
Activerecord Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/activerecord/CVE-2014-3514.yml
groups.google.com/forum/ WEB
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/rubyonrails-security/M4chq5Sb540/CC1Fh0Y_NWwJ
groups.google.com/forum/message/raw WEB
https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=rubyonrails-security/M4chq5Sb540/CC1Fh0Y_NWwJ
Activerecord Security Information SECURITY
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/08/18/10
rhn.redhat.com/errata/rhsa-2014-11... WEB
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1102.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2014-3514?
CVE-2014-3514 is a security vulnerability in Activerecord involving Active Record subject to strong parameters protection bypass under CWE-284: Improper Access Control.
Which Activerecord versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.0.9, 4.1.5 across affected packages: activerecord.
What version fixes CVE-2014-3514?
Upgrading to 4.0.9, 4.1.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is activerecord affected?
Yes, activerecord is affected in releases prior to 4.0.9, 4.1.5. Upgrade your dependency to 4.0.9, 4.1.5 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2014-3514?
CVE-2014-3514 is classified under CWE-284: Improper Access Control (The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2014-3514?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for activerecord'. 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-9rf5-jm6f-2fmm",
  "modified" : "2023-08-25T22:56:38Z",
  "published" : "2017-10-24T18:33:36Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2014-3514" ],
  "summary" : "Active Record subject to strong parameters protection bypass",
  "details" : "`activerecord/lib/active_record/relation/query_methods.rb` in Active Record in Ruby on Rails 4.0.x before 4.0.9 and 4.1.x before 4.1.5 allows remote attackers to bypass the strong parameters protection mechanism via crafted input to an application that makes `create_with` calls.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "activerecord"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.0.9"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "activerecord"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.1.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.1.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3514"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/activerecord/CVE-2014-3514.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/rubyonrails-security/M4chq5Sb540/CC1Fh0Y_NWwJ"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?msg=rubyonrails-security/M4chq5Sb540/CC1Fh0Y_NWwJ"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/08/18/10"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1102.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-284" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:29:34Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2014-08-20T11:17:14Z"
  }
}