CVE-2019-11068: Nokogiri Nokogiri Vulnerable To Libxslt Protection Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qxcg-xjjg-66mj
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CVSS 9.8
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-11068 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) nokogiri vulnerable to libxslt protection vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Nokogiri libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves nokogiri vulnerable to libxslt protection mechanism bypass. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.10.3.

CVE-2019-11068 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-11068
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qxcg-xjjg-66mj
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Nokogiri
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
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-2019-11068

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

nokogiri fixed: 1.10.3 
Upgrade nokogiri to 1.10.3
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 nokogiri

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-11068, inspect your project dependencies for Nokogiri:

inspect dependencies for nokogiri

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Nokogiri in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.10.3), 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 Nokogiri, 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

A dependency of Nokogiri, libxslt through 1.1.33 allows bypass of a protection mechanism because callers of `xsltCheckRead` and `xsltCheckWrite` permit access even upon receiving a `-1` error code. `xsltCheckRead` can return `-1` for a crafted URL that is not actually invalid and is subsequently loaded.

CVE-2019-11068 Affected Nokogiri Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.10.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
nokogiri
gem/nokogiri
RubyGems
< 1.10.3
1.10.3

References

NVD — CVE-2019-11068 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11068
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/1892
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/pull/1898
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/commit/fe034aedcc59b566740567d621843731686676b9
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2019-5072832.html
usn.ubuntu.com/3947-2 WEB
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3947-2
usn.ubuntu.com/3947-1 WEB
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3947-1
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20191017-0001
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SK4YNISS22MJY22YX5I6V2U63QZAUEHA
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GCOAX2IHUMKCM3ILHTMGLHCDSBTLP2JU
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/36TEYN37XCCKN2XUMRTBBW67BPNMSW4K
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SK4YNISS22MJY22YX5I6V2U63QZAUEHA
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GCOAX2IHUMKCM3ILHTMGLHCDSBTLP2JU
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/packa... WEB
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/36TEYN37XCCKN2XUMRTBBW67BPNMSW4K
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/04/msg00016.html
gitlab.gnome.org/gnome/libxslt/commi... WEB
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxslt/commit/e03553605b45c88f0b4b2980adfbbb8f6fca2fd6
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/blob/f7aa3b0b29d6fe5fafe93dacd9b96b6b3d16b7ec/CHANGELOG.md?plain=1#L826
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/nokogiri/CVE-2019-11068.yml
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00048.html
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00052.html
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00053.html
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-06/msg00025.html
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-08/msg00001.html
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/04/22/1
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/04/23/5

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-11068?
CVE-2019-11068 is a security vulnerability in Nokogiri involving Nokogiri vulnerable to libxslt protection mechanism bypass under General Security Weakness.
Which Nokogiri versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.10.3 across affected packages: nokogiri.
What version fixes CVE-2019-11068?
Upgrading to 1.10.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is nokogiri affected?
Yes, nokogiri is affected in releases prior to 1.10.3. Upgrade your dependency to 1.10.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-11068?
CVE-2019-11068 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-11068?
CVE-2019-11068 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2019-11068?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for nokogiri'. 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-qxcg-xjjg-66mj",
  "modified" : "2026-06-09T10:21:12Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:21:57Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-11068" ],
  "summary" : "Nokogiri vulnerable to libxslt protection mechanism bypass",
  "details" : "A dependency of Nokogiri, libxslt through 1.1.33 allows bypass of a protection mechanism because callers of `xsltCheckRead` and `xsltCheckWrite` permit access even upon receiving a `-1` error code. `xsltCheckRead` can return `-1` for a crafted URL that is not actually invalid and is subsequently loaded.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "nokogiri"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.10.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11068"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/1892"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/pull/1898"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/commit/fe034aedcc59b566740567d621843731686676b9"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuoct2019-5072832.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://usn.ubuntu.com/3947-2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://usn.ubuntu.com/3947-1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20191017-0001"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SK4YNISS22MJY22YX5I6V2U63QZAUEHA"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GCOAX2IHUMKCM3ILHTMGLHCDSBTLP2JU"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/36TEYN37XCCKN2XUMRTBBW67BPNMSW4K"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SK4YNISS22MJY22YX5I6V2U63QZAUEHA"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GCOAX2IHUMKCM3ILHTMGLHCDSBTLP2JU"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/36TEYN37XCCKN2XUMRTBBW67BPNMSW4K"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/04/msg00016.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxslt/commit/e03553605b45c88f0b4b2980adfbbb8f6fca2fd6"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/blob/f7aa3b0b29d6fe5fafe93dacd9b96b6b3d16b7ec/CHANGELOG.md?plain=1#L826"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/nokogiri/CVE-2019-11068.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00048.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00052.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-05/msg00053.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-06/msg00025.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-08/msg00001.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/04/22/1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/04/23/5"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-03-09T00:35:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-04-10T20:29:00Z"
  }
}