CVE-2015-7519: Passenger Phusion Passenger Allows Remote Attackers Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-fxwv-953p-7qpf
Share
CVSS 3.7
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-7519 is a LOW (CVSS 3.7) phusion passenger allows remote attackers vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Passenger libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves phusion passenger allows remote attackers to spoof headers. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.0.60, 5.0.22.

CVE-2015-7519 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-7519
GHSA Identifier GHSA-fxwv-953p-7qpf
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 3.7
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Passenger
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 3.7

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2015-7519

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: 4.0.60 
Upgrade passenger to 4.0.60
passenger fixed: 5.0.22 
Upgrade passenger to 5.0.22
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-2015-7519, 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 4.0.60), 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-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. 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

`agent/Core/Controller/SendRequest.cpp` in Phusion Passenger before 4.0.60 and 5.0.x before 5.0.22, when used in Apache integration mode or in standalone mode without a filtering proxy, allows remote attackers to spoof headers passed to applications by using an `_` (underscore) character instead of a `-` (dash) character in an HTTP header, as demonstrated by an `X_User` header.

CVE-2015-7519 Affected Passenger Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.0.605.0.22
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
passenger
gem/passenger
RubyGems
< 4.0.60
4.0.60
passenger
gem/passenger
RubyGems
≥ 5.0.0
< 5.0.22
5.0.22

References

NVD — CVE-2015-7519 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-7519
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/ddb8ecc4ebf260e4967f57f271d4f5761abeac3e
blog.phusion.nl/2015/12/07/cve-2015... WEB
https://blog.phusion.nl/2015/12/07/cve-2015-7519
bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=956281
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-fxwv-953p-7qpf
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-2015-7519.yml
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/06/msg00007.html
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
https://web.archive.org/web/20220327073056/https://www.puppet.com/security/cve/passenger-dec-2015-security-fixes
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-12/msg00024.html
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/07/1
Passenger Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/07/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-7519?
CVE-2015-7519 is a security vulnerability in Passenger involving Phusion Passenger allows remote attackers to spoof headers under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Passenger versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.0.60, 5.0.22 across affected packages: passenger.
What version fixes CVE-2015-7519?
Upgrading to 4.0.60, 5.0.22 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is passenger affected?
Yes, passenger is affected in releases prior to 4.0.60, 5.0.22. Upgrade your dependency to 4.0.60, 5.0.22 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2015-7519?
CVE-2015-7519 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 3.7 (LOW) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-7519?
CVE-2015-7519 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2015-7519?
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-fxwv-953p-7qpf",
  "modified" : "2023-07-05T18:39:02Z",
  "published" : "2018-10-10T17:29:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-7519" ],
  "summary" : "Phusion Passenger allows remote attackers to spoof headers",
  "details" : "`agent/Core/Controller/SendRequest.cpp` in Phusion Passenger before 4.0.60 and 5.0.x before 5.0.22, when used in Apache integration mode or in standalone mode without a filtering proxy, allows remote attackers to spoof headers passed to applications by using an `_` (underscore) character instead of a `-` (dash) character in an HTTP header, as demonstrated by an `X_User` header.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "passenger"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.0.60"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "passenger"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "5.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.0.22"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-7519"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/ddb8ecc4ebf260e4967f57f271d4f5761abeac3e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://blog.phusion.nl/2015/12/07/cve-2015-7519"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=956281"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-fxwv-953p-7qpf"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/phusion/passenger"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/passenger/CVE-2015-7519.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/06/msg00007.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://web.archive.org/web/20220327073056/https://www.puppet.com/security/cve/passenger-dec-2015-security-fixes"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2015-12/msg00024.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/07/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2015/12/07/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:35:50Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}