CVE-2014-10075: Karo Karo Metacharacter Handling Remote Command Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qfwq-chf4-jvwg
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-77
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2014-10075 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) karo metacharacter handling remote command vulnerability (CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')) affecting Karo libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves karo metacharacter handling remote command execution. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2014-10075 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2014-10075
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qfwq-chf4-jvwg
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')
Affected Product Karo
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-2014-10075

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

karo fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade karo 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 karo

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2014-10075, inspect your project dependencies for Karo:

inspect dependencies for karo

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Karo 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-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component. In Karo, 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

The karo gem through 2.5.2 for Ruby allows Remote command injection via the host field. A flaw in `db.rb` is triggered when handling metacharacters. This may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands. In particular lines 76 and 95 (as of `2014-06-01`) pass unsanitized user supplied input to the command line. ``` 73- host = "{@configuration["user"]}@{@configuration["host"]}" 74- cmd = "ssh #{host} cat {server_db_config_file}" 75- 76: server_db_config_output = `{cmd}` 79- -- 89- def drop_and_create_local_database(local_db_config) 90- command = case local_db_config["adapter"] 91- when "mysql2" 93- when "postgresql" 95- dropdb -h #{local_db_config["host"]} -U #{local_db_config["username"]} --if-exists #{local_db_config["database"]} ``` If this gem is used in the context of a rails application malicious input could lead to remote command injection. As of version 2.5.2 the affected code lines have not changed.

CVE-2014-10075 Affected Karo Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
karo
gem/karo
RubyGems
≤ 2.5.2

References

NVD — CVE-2014-10075 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-10075
Karo Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rahult/karo
Karo Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rahult/karo/blob/master/lib/karo/db.rb#L76
Karo Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rahult/karo/blob/master/lib/karo/db.rb#L95
Karo Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/karo/CVE-2014-10075.yml
www.vapid.dhs.org/advisories/karo-2.3... WEB
http://www.vapid.dhs.org/advisories/karo-2.3.8.html
www.vapidlabs.com/advisory.php WEB
http://www.vapidlabs.com/advisory.php?v=63

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2014-10075?
CVE-2014-10075 is a security vulnerability in Karo involving karo Metacharacter Handling Remote Command Execution under CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection').
Which Karo versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: karo.
What version fixes CVE-2014-10075?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is karo affected?
Yes, karo 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-2014-10075?
CVE-2014-10075 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-2014-10075?
CVE-2014-10075 is classified under CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') (The product constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2014-10075?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for karo'. 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-qfwq-chf4-jvwg",
  "modified" : "2025-08-15T13:55:26Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-14T01:49:44Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2014-10075" ],
  "summary" : "karo Metacharacter Handling Remote Command Execution",
  "details" : "The karo gem through 2.5.2 for Ruby allows Remote command injection via the host field.\n\nA flaw in `db.rb` is triggered when handling metacharacters. This may allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands.\n\nIn particular lines 76 and 95 (as of `2014-06-01`) pass unsanitized user supplied input to the command line. \n\n```\n73-      host = \"{@configuration[\"user\"]}@{@configuration[\"host\"]}\"\n74-      cmd  = \"ssh #{host} cat {server_db_config_file}\"\n75-\n76:      server_db_config_output = `{cmd}`\n79-\n--\n89- def drop_and_create_local_database(local_db_config)\n90-      command = case local_db_config[\"adapter\"]\n91-      when \"mysql2\"\n93-      when \"postgresql\"\n95-          dropdb -h #{local_db_config[\"host\"]} -U #{local_db_config[\"username\"]} --if-exists #{local_db_config[\"database\"]}\n```\n\nIf this gem is used in the context of a rails application malicious input could lead to remote command injection. As of version 2.5.2 the affected code lines have not changed.",
  "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" : "karo"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "2.5.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-10075"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rahult/karo"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rahult/karo/blob/master/lib/karo/db.rb#L76"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rahult/karo/blob/master/lib/karo/db.rb#L95"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/karo/CVE-2014-10075.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.vapid.dhs.org/advisories/karo-2.3.8.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.vapidlabs.com/advisory.php?v=63"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-77" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-03-29T20:26:16Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-10-05T06:29:00Z"
  }
}