CVE-2020-7659: Reel HTTP Request Smuggling Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-x3v4-pxvm-63j8
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-444
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-7659 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) http request smuggling vulnerability (CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')) affecting Reel libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves http request smuggling in reel. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2020-7659 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-7659
GHSA Identifier GHSA-x3v4-pxvm-63j8
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling')
Affected Product Reel
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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

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 None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2020-7659

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

reel fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade reel to Latest secure release
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 reel

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2020-7659, inspect your project dependencies for Reel:

inspect dependencies for reel

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Reel in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), 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-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling'), where the product acts as an intermediary http agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed http requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination. In Reel, 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

reel through 0.6.1 allows Request Smuggling attacks due to incorrect Content-Length and Transfer encoding header parsing. It is possible to conduct HTTP request smuggling attacks by sending the Content-Length header twice. Furthermore, invalid Transfer Encoding headers were found to be parsed as valid which could be leveraged for TECL smuggling attacks. Note, This project is deprecated, and is not maintained any more.

CVE-2020-7659 Affected Reel Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
reel
gem/reel
RubyGems
≤ 0.6.1

References

NVD — CVE-2020-7659 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7659
Reel Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/celluloid/reel
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-ruby-reel... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-REEL-569135

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-7659?
CVE-2020-7659 is a security vulnerability in Reel involving HTTP Request Smuggling in reel under CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling').
Which Reel versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: reel.
What version fixes CVE-2020-7659?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is reel affected?
Yes, reel is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-7659?
CVE-2020-7659 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-7659?
CVE-2020-7659 is classified under CWE-444: Inconsistent Interpretation of HTTP Requests ('HTTP Request/Response Smuggling') (The product acts as an intermediary HTTP agent (such as a proxy or firewall) in the data flow between two entities such as a client and server, but it does not interpret malformed HTTP requests or responses in ways that are consistent with how the messages will be processed by those entities that are at the ultimate destination.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2020-7659?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for reel'. 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-x3v4-pxvm-63j8",
  "modified" : "2023-01-23T20:29:58Z",
  "published" : "2021-05-24T18:13:36Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-7659" ],
  "summary" : "HTTP Request Smuggling in reel",
  "details" : "reel through 0.6.1 allows Request Smuggling attacks due to incorrect Content-Length and Transfer encoding header parsing. It is possible to conduct HTTP request smuggling attacks by sending the Content-Length header twice. Furthermore, invalid Transfer Encoding headers were found to be parsed as valid which could be leveraged for TECL smuggling attacks. Note, This project is deprecated, and is not maintained any more.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "reel"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.6.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-7659"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/celluloid/reel"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-RUBY-REEL-569135"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-444" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-05-14T17:59:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-06-01T13:15:00Z"
  }
}