CVE-2022-21223: Cocoapods downloader Command Injection Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-g397-v4w5-4m79
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CVSS 8.1
CWE-88 CWE-74
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-21223 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.1) command injection vulnerability (CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')) affecting Cocoapods downloader libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves command injection in cocoapods-downloader. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.6.2.

CVE-2022-21223 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-21223
GHSA Identifier GHSA-g397-v4w5-4m79
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.1
CWE Classification CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')
Affected Product Cocoapods downloader
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.1

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

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 High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2022-21223

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

cocoapods-downloader fixed: 1.6.2 
Upgrade cocoapods-downloader to 1.6.2
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 cocoapods-downloader

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2022-21223, inspect your project dependencies for Cocoapods downloader:

inspect dependencies for cocoapods-downloader

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Cocoapods downloader in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.6.2), 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-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection'), where the product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string. In Cocoapods downloader, 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

The package cocoapods-downloader before 1.6.2 are vulnerable to Command Injection via hg argument injection. When calling the download function (when using hg), the url (and/or revision, tag, branch) is passed to the hg clone command in a way that additional flags can be set. The additional flags can be used to perform a command injection.

CVE-2022-21223 Affected Cocoapods downloader Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.6.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
cocoapods-downloader
gem/cocoapods-downloader
RubyGems
< 1.6.2
1.6.2

References

NVD — CVE-2022-21223 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21223
Cocoapods downloader Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/CocoaPods/cocoapods-downloader/pull/127
Cocoapods downloader Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/CocoaPods/cocoapods-downloader
Cocoapods downloader Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/cocoapods-downloader/CVE-2022-21223.yml
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-ruby-coco... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-COCOAPODSDOWNLOADER-2414280

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-21223?
CVE-2022-21223 is a security vulnerability in Cocoapods downloader involving Command injection in cocoapods-downloader under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection').
Which Cocoapods downloader versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.6.2 across affected packages: cocoapods-downloader.
What version fixes CVE-2022-21223?
Upgrading to 1.6.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is cocoapods-downloader affected?
Yes, cocoapods-downloader is affected in releases prior to 1.6.2. Upgrade your dependency to 1.6.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21223?
CVE-2022-21223 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-21223?
CVE-2022-21223 is classified under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') (The product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2022-21223?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for cocoapods-downloader'. 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-g397-v4w5-4m79",
  "modified" : "2022-04-04T21:57:37Z",
  "published" : "2022-04-02T00:00:13Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-21223" ],
  "summary" : "Command injection in cocoapods-downloader",
  "details" : "The package cocoapods-downloader before 1.6.2 are vulnerable to Command Injection via hg argument injection. When calling the download function (when using hg), the url (and/or revision, tag, branch) is passed to the hg clone command in a way that additional flags can be set. The additional flags can be used to perform a command injection.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "cocoapods-downloader"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21223"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/CocoaPods/cocoapods-downloader/pull/127"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/CocoaPods/cocoapods-downloader"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/cocoapods-downloader/CVE-2022-21223.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-COCOAPODSDOWNLOADER-2414280"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-74", "CWE-88" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-04-04T21:57:37Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-04-01T18:15:00Z"
  }
}