CVE-2024-6961: Guardrails ai Guardrails AI Vulnerable To Improper Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f8hx-f4xw-c646
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CVSS 5.9
CWE-611
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2024-6961 is a HIGH (CVSS 5.9) guardrails ai vulnerable to improper vulnerability (CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference) affecting Guardrails ai libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves guardrails ai vulnerable to improper restriction of xml external entity reference. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.5.0.

CVE-2024-6961 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2024-6961
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f8hx-f4xw-c646
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.9
CWE Classification CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference
Affected Product Guardrails ai
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.9

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
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-2024-6961

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

guardrails-ai fixed: 0.5.0 
pip install guardrails-ai>=0.5.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show guardrails-ai

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2024-6961, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show guardrails-ai

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Guardrails ai in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.5.0), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show guardrails-ai command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference, where the product processes an xml document that can contain xml entities with uris that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output. In Guardrails ai, 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

RAIL documents are an XML-based format invented by Guardrails AI to enforce formatting checks on LLM outputs. Guardrails users that consume RAIL documents from external sources are vulnerable to XXE, which may cause leakage of internal file data via the SYSTEM entity.

CVE-2024-6961 Affected Guardrails ai Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.5.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
guardrails-ai
pypi/guardrails-ai
PyPI
< 0.5.0
0.5.0

References

NVD — CVE-2024-6961 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-6961
Guardrails ai Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/pull/922
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/commit/f3d806afee31e2e3f97af682d16c3c1bc0d3c380
Guardrails ai Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails
research.jfrog.com/vulnerabilities/gua... WEB
https://research.jfrog.com/vulnerabilities/guardrails-rail-xxe-jfsa-2024-001035519

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-6961?
CVE-2024-6961 is a security vulnerability in Guardrails ai involving Guardrails AI vulnerable to Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference under CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference.
Which Guardrails ai versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.5.0 across affected packages: guardrails-ai.
What version fixes CVE-2024-6961?
Upgrading to 0.5.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is guardrails-ai affected?
Yes, guardrails-ai is affected in releases prior to 0.5.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.5.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2024-6961?
CVE-2024-6961 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2024-6961?
CVE-2024-6961 is classified under CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2024-6961?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show guardrails-ai'. 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-f8hx-f4xw-c646",
  "modified" : "2024-11-18T16:26:54Z",
  "published" : "2024-07-21T12:30:48Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2024-6961" ],
  "summary" : "Guardrails AI vulnerable to Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference",
  "details" : "RAIL documents are an XML-based format invented by Guardrails AI to enforce formatting checks on LLM outputs. Guardrails users that consume RAIL documents from external sources are vulnerable to XXE, which may cause leakage of internal file data via the SYSTEM entity.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "guardrails-ai"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.5.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-6961"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/pull/922"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/commit/f3d806afee31e2e3f97af682d16c3c1bc0d3c380"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://research.jfrog.com/vulnerabilities/guardrails-rail-xxe-jfsa-2024-001035519"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-611" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-07-22T14:44:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-07-21T11:15:03Z"
  }
}