CVE-2017-16932: Nokogiri Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-x2fm-93ww-ggvx
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-835
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2017-16932 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')) affecting Nokogiri libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves nokogiri gem, via libxml, is affected by dos vulnerabilities. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.8.1.

CVE-2017-16932 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2017-16932
GHSA Identifier GHSA-x2fm-93ww-ggvx
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
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:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2017-16932

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: 1.8.1 
Upgrade nokogiri to 1.8.1
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-2017-16932, 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 1.8.1), 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-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop'), where the product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop. 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

parser.c in libxml2 before 2.9.5 does not prevent infinite recursion in parameter entities.

CVE-2017-16932 Affected Nokogiri Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.8.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
nokogiri
gem/nokogiri
RubyGems
< 1.8.1
1.8.1

References

NVD — CVE-2017-16932 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16932
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/1714
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2/commit/899a5d9f0ed13b8e32449a08a361e0de127dd961
blog.clamav.net/2018/07/clamav-0100... WEB
https://blog.clamav.net/2018/07/clamav-01001-has-been-released.html
bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=759579
Nokogiri Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/nokogiri/CVE-2017-16932.yml
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b@%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c027... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4@%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2017/11/msg00041.html
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/04/msg00004.html
usn.ubuntu.com/3739-1 WEB
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3739-1
xmlsoft.org/news.html WEB
http://xmlsoft.org/news.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2017-16932?
CVE-2017-16932 is a security vulnerability in Nokogiri involving Nokogiri gem, via libxml, is affected by DoS vulnerabilities under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop').
Which Nokogiri versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.8.1 across affected packages: nokogiri.
What version fixes CVE-2017-16932?
Upgrading to 1.8.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is nokogiri affected?
Yes, nokogiri is affected in releases prior to 1.8.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.8.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2017-16932?
CVE-2017-16932 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2017-16932?
CVE-2017-16932 is classified under CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop') (The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2017-16932?
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-x2fm-93ww-ggvx",
  "modified" : "2023-06-09T23:06:12Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:02:39Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2017-16932" ],
  "summary" : "Nokogiri gem, via libxml, is affected by DoS vulnerabilities",
  "details" : "parser.c in libxml2 before 2.9.5 does not prevent infinite recursion in parameter entities.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "nokogiri"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.8.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-16932"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/sparklemotion/nokogiri/issues/1714"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/GNOME/libxml2/commit/899a5d9f0ed13b8e32449a08a361e0de127dd961"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://blog.clamav.net/2018/07/clamav-01001-has-been-released.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=759579"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/nokogiri/CVE-2017-16932.yml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b@%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4@%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2017/11/msg00041.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/04/msg00004.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://usn.ubuntu.com/3739-1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://xmlsoft.org/news.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-835" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-06-09T23:06:12Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2017-11-23T21:29:00Z"
  }
}