CVE-2008-5189: Rails Rails Is Vulnerable To CRLF Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-jmgf-p46x-982h
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CWE-352
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2008-5189 is a MODERATE rails is vulnerable to crlf vulnerability (CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)) affecting Rails libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves rails is vulnerable to crlf injection. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.0.5.

CVE-2008-5189 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2008-5189
GHSA Identifier GHSA-jmgf-p46x-982h
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Affected Product Rails
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2008-5189

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

rails fixed: 2.0.5 
Upgrade rails to 2.0.5
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 rails

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2008-5189, inspect your project dependencies for Rails:

inspect dependencies for rails

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Rails in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.0.5), 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-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), where the web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor. In Rails, 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

CRLF injection vulnerability in Ruby on Rails before 2.0.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via a crafted URL to the redirect_to function.

CVE-2008-5189 Affected Rails Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.0.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
rails
gem/rails
RubyGems
< 2.0.5
2.0.5

References

NVD — CVE-2008-5189 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5189
Rails Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/rails/CVE-2008-5189.yml
Rails Source Repository REPOSITORY
http://github.com/rails/rails
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
http://github.com/rails/rails/commit/7282ed863ca7e6f928bae9162c9a63a98775a19d
Rails Security Information SECURITY
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-12/msg00002.html
Rails Security Information SECURITY
http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/10/19/rails-2-0-5-redirect_to-and-offset-limit-sanitizing
Rails Security Information SECURITY
http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/10/19/response-splitting-risk

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2008-5189?
CVE-2008-5189 is a security vulnerability in Rails involving rails is vulnerable to CRLF injection under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
Which Rails versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.0.5 across affected packages: rails.
What version fixes CVE-2008-5189?
Upgrading to 2.0.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is rails affected?
Yes, rails is affected in releases prior to 2.0.5. Upgrade your dependency to 2.0.5 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2008-5189?
CVE-2008-5189 is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (The web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2008-5189?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for rails'. 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-jmgf-p46x-982h",
  "modified" : "2025-04-09T16:49:45Z",
  "published" : "2017-10-24T18:33:38Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2008-5189" ],
  "summary" : "rails is vulnerable to CRLF injection",
  "details" : "CRLF injection vulnerability in Ruby on Rails before 2.0.5 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary HTTP headers and conduct HTTP response splitting attacks via a crafted URL to the redirect_to function.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "rails"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.0.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-5189"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/rails/CVE-2008-5189.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "http://github.com/rails/rails"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://github.com/rails/rails/commit/7282ed863ca7e6f928bae9162c9a63a98775a19d"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2008-12/msg00002.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/10/19/rails-2-0-5-redirect_to-and-offset-limit-sanitizing"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2008/10/19/response-splitting-risk"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-352" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:43:46Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2008-11-21T12:00:00Z"
  }
}