CVE-2023-22792: Actionpack Denial of Service Vulnerability

LOW
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-p84v-45xj-wwqj
CWE-400 CWE-1333
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-22792 is a LOW denial of service vulnerability (CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) 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 5.2.8.15, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1.

CVE-2023-22792 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-22792
GHSA Identifier GHSA-p84v-45xj-wwqj
Severity LOW
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
Affected Product Actionpack
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2023-22792

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.

actionpack fixed: 5.2.8.15
Upgrade actionpack to 5.2.8.15
actionpack fixed: 6.1.7.1
Upgrade actionpack to 6.1.7.1
actionpack fixed: 7.0.4.1
Upgrade actionpack to 7.0.4.1
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 actionpack

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-22792, 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 5.2.8.15), 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-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption, where the product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource. 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

There is a possible regular expression based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22792. Versions Affected: >= 3.0.0 Not affected: < 3.0.0 Fixed Versions: 5.2.8.15 (Rails LTS), 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1 Impact Specially crafted cookies, in combination with a specially crafted X_FORWARDED_HOST header can cause the regular expression engine to enter a state of catastrophic backtracking. 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. Releases The FIXED releases are available at the normal locations. Workarounds We 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 X_FORWARDED_HOST headers before they reach the application. Patches To 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. 6-1-Use-string-split-instead-of-regex-for-domain-parts.patch - Patch for 6.1 series 7-0-Use-string-split-instead-of-regex-for-domain-parts.patch - Patch for 7.0 series Please 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. https://rubyonrails.org/2023/1/17/Rails-Versions-6-0-6-1-6-1-7-1-7-0-4-1-have-been-released

CVE-2023-22792 Affected Actionpack Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
5.2.8.156.1.7.17.0.4.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
actionpack
RubyGems
≥ 3.0.0
< 5.2.8.15
5.2.8.15
actionpack
RubyGems
≥ 6.0.0
< 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-2023-22792?
CVE-2023-22792 is a security vulnerability in Actionpack involving ReDoS based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption.
Which Actionpack versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 5.2.8.15, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1 across affected packages: actionpack.
What version fixes CVE-2023-22792?
Upgrading to 5.2.8.15, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is actionpack affected?
Yes, actionpack is affected in releases prior to 5.2.8.15, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1. Upgrade your dependency to 5.2.8.15, 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-22792?
CVE-2023-22792 is classified under CWE-400: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2023-22792?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for actionpack'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-p84v-45xj-wwqj",
  "modified" : "2025-02-18T22:36:28Z",
  "published" : "2023-01-18T18:23:34Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-22792" ],
  "summary" : "ReDoS based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch",
  "details" : "There is a possible regular expression based DoS vulnerability in Action Dispatch. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22792.\n\nVersions Affected: >= 3.0.0 Not affected: < 3.0.0 Fixed Versions: 5.2.8.15 (Rails LTS), 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1\nImpact\n\nSpecially crafted cookies, in combination with a specially crafted X_FORWARDED_HOST header can cause the regular expression engine to enter a state of catastrophic backtracking. 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 X_FORWARDED_HOST headers before they reach the application.\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-Use-string-split-instead-of-regex-for-domain-parts.patch - Patch for 6.1 series\n    7-0-Use-string-split-instead-of-regex-for-domain-parts.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.\n\nhttps://rubyonrails.org/2023/1/17/Rails-Versions-6-0-6-1-6-1-7-1-7-0-4-1-have-been-released",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
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    },
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      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-22792"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://discuss.rubyonrails.org/t/cve-2023-22792-possible-redos-based-dos-vulnerability-in-action-dispatch/82115"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rails/rails"
  }, {
    "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-2023-22792.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"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240202-0007"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5372"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-1333", "CWE-400" ],
    "severity" : "LOW",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-01-18T18:23:34Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-02-09T20:15:00Z"
  }
}