CVE-2012-6685: Nokogiri Nokogiri Is Vulnerable To XML Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-6wj9-77wq-jq7p
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-776
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2012-6685 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) nokogiri is vulnerable to xml vulnerability (CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion')) affecting Nokogiri libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves nokogiri is vulnerable to xml external entity (xxe) attack. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.5.4.

CVE-2012-6685 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2012-6685
GHSA Identifier GHSA-6wj9-77wq-jq7p
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion')
Affected Product Nokogiri
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:H/I:N/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 High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2012-6685

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: 1.5.4 
Upgrade nokogiri to 1.5.4
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-2012-6685, 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 1.5.4), 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-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion'), where the product uses xml documents and allows their structure to be defined with a document type definition (dtd), but it does not properly control the number of recursive definitions of entities. 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

Nokogiri before 1.5.4 is vulnerable to XXE attacks.

CVE-2012-6685 Affected Nokogiri Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.5.4
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
nokogiri
gem/nokogiri
RubyGems
< 1.5.4
1.5.4

References

NVD — CVE-2012-6685 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-6685
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/693
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1178970
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri
Nokogiri Security Information SECURITY
https://nokogiri.org/CHANGELOG.html#154-2012-06-12

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2012-6685?
CVE-2012-6685 is a security vulnerability in Nokogiri involving Nokogiri is vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) attack under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion').
Which Nokogiri versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.5.4 across affected packages: nokogiri.
What version fixes CVE-2012-6685?
Upgrading to 1.5.4 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is nokogiri affected?
Yes, nokogiri is affected in releases prior to 1.5.4. Upgrade your dependency to 1.5.4 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-6685?
CVE-2012-6685 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:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2012-6685?
CVE-2012-6685 is classified under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion') (The product uses XML documents and allows their structure to be defined with a Document Type Definition (DTD), but it does not properly control the number of recursive definitions of entities.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2012-6685?
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-6wj9-77wq-jq7p",
  "modified" : "2023-03-06T23:31:46Z",
  "published" : "2022-04-23T00:40:45Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2012-6685" ],
  "summary" : "Nokogiri is vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) attack",
  "details" : "Nokogiri before 1.5.4 is vulnerable to XXE attacks.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "nokogiri"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.5.4"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-6685"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/693"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1178970"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://nokogiri.org/CHANGELOG.html#154-2012-06-12"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-776" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-09-12T16:55:39Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-02-19T15:15:00Z"
  }
}