CVE-2014-1831: Passenger Insecure Use Of Temporary Files Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-c7j7-p5jq-26ff
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2014-1831 is a LOW insecure use of temporary files vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Passenger libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves insecure use of temporary files in passenger. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.0.38.

CVE-2014-1831 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2014-1831
GHSA Identifier GHSA-c7j7-p5jq-26ff
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Passenger
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2014-1831

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

passenger fixed: 4.0.38 
Upgrade passenger to 4.0.38
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 passenger

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2014-1831, inspect your project dependencies for Passenger:

inspect dependencies for passenger

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Passenger in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.0.38), 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 General Security Weakness. In Passenger, 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

Phusion Passenger before 4.0.38 allows local users to write to certain files and directories via a symlink attack on 1. `control_process.pid` or 2. a generation-* file.

CVE-2014-1831 Affected Passenger Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.0.38
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
passenger
gem/passenger
RubyGems
< 4.0.38
4.0.38

References

NVD — CVE-2014-1831 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1831
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/34b1087870c2
bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.c... WEB
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=736958
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1058992
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-c7j7-p5jq-26ff
Passenger Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/phusion/passenger
Passenger Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/passenger/CVE-2014-1831.yml
lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-a... WEB
http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-February/149032.html
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/01/28/8
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/01/30/3

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2014-1831?
CVE-2014-1831 is a security vulnerability in Passenger involving Insecure use of temporary files in passenger under General Security Weakness.
Which Passenger versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.0.38 across affected packages: passenger.
What version fixes CVE-2014-1831?
Upgrading to 4.0.38 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is passenger affected?
Yes, passenger is affected in releases prior to 4.0.38. Upgrade your dependency to 4.0.38 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2014-1831?
CVE-2014-1831 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2014-1831?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for passenger'. 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-c7j7-p5jq-26ff",
  "modified" : "2023-07-05T18:49:05Z",
  "published" : "2018-10-10T17:29:20Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2014-1831" ],
  "summary" : "Insecure use of temporary files in passenger",
  "details" : "Phusion Passenger before 4.0.38 allows local users to write to certain files and directories via a symlink attack on \n1. `control_process.pid` or \n2. a generation-* file.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "passenger"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.0.38"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1831"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/34b1087870c2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=736958"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1058992"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-c7j7-p5jq-26ff"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/phusion/passenger"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/passenger/CVE-2014-1831.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2015-February/149032.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/01/28/8"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/01/30/3"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:30:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2015-02-19T15:59:00Z"
  }
}