CVE-2018-1000077 in Ruby
Summary
by MITRE
RubyGems version Ruby 2.2 series: 2.2.9 and earlier, Ruby 2.3 series: 2.3.6 and earlier, Ruby 2.4 series: 2.4.3 and earlier, Ruby 2.5 series: 2.5.0 and earlier, prior to trunk revision 62422 contains a Improper Input Validation vulnerability in ruby gems specification homepage attribute that can result in a malicious gem could set an invalid homepage URL. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 2.7.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/21/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-1000077 represents a critical improper input validation flaw within the RubyGems package management system affecting multiple Ruby versions including 2.2.9 and earlier, 2.3.6 and earlier, 2.4.3 and earlier, and 2.5.0 and earlier. This issue resides in the gem specification homepage attribute handling mechanism where the system fails to properly validate user-supplied input, creating a potential vector for malicious actors to manipulate gem metadata. The vulnerability specifically targets the validation process that occurs when RubyGems processes gem specifications, particularly focusing on the homepage field that is used to store web addresses associated with gem projects. This weakness allows attackers to craft malicious gem packages that can contain invalid or malicious homepage URLs, potentially leading to security implications for developers who rely on these metadata fields for verification and trust establishment. The vulnerability affects the core RubyGems functionality that manages package metadata and distribution, making it a fundamental security concern for the Ruby ecosystem. According to CWE standards, this vulnerability maps to CWE-20, which describes improper input validation, and represents a classic case where insufficient validation of user-provided data leads to potential security compromise. The issue has been addressed in Ruby 2.7.6 and later versions, indicating that the Ruby development team recognized the severity of this input validation weakness. From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for developers who may unknowingly install malicious gems that appear legitimate due to their valid metadata structure. The impact extends beyond simple data corruption as it can enable social engineering attacks where attackers craft convincing homepage URLs that mislead users about the true nature of the installed packages. This flaw particularly affects the trust model of the Ruby package ecosystem where developers rely on gem metadata to assess package legitimacy and security. The vulnerability demonstrates how seemingly innocuous metadata fields can become attack vectors when proper input validation is absent. Organizations using Ruby environments must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability on their software supply chain security, as it could potentially enable more sophisticated attacks involving malicious package distribution. The fix implemented in Ruby 2.7.6 demonstrates the importance of proper validation of all user-supplied input within package management systems, aligning with ATT&CK framework techniques related to supply chain compromise and credential dumping through package manipulation. The vulnerability highlights the critical need for input sanitization in package metadata handling, particularly in systems where trust is established through metadata fields. This flaw underscores the importance of maintaining robust validation mechanisms in package managers and represents a common pattern where insufficient input validation creates exploitable conditions for malicious actors. The remediation process required organizations to update their Ruby installations to versions that properly validate homepage URLs and other gem specification attributes, reinforcing the principle that package management security must be comprehensive across all metadata fields. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical security considerations in open source package ecosystems where the integrity of metadata can significantly impact overall system security posture. The issue also emphasizes the importance of continuous security monitoring and timely patching of package management systems to prevent exploitation of input validation weaknesses that could compromise entire development environments.