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CVE-2022-29176

Unauthorized gem takeover for some gems on rubygems.org

9.9 Critical

Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

1.94%Up 1.1 points since May 6, 2022
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 9.9

Unauthorized gem takeover for some gems on rubygems.org

Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.

Record
CVE-2022-29176
CVSS 3.1
9.9 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-862
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-33576 9.9

Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.

Record
EUVD-2022-33576
CVSS 3.1
9.9 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 9.9

Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.

Record
CVE-2022-29176
CVSS 3.1
9.9 CriticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 3.1
7.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
6.0 MediumAV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
Weakness
CWE-862, CWE-863
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
first indexedCVE List, EUVD, NVD

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2022-29176 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.9) in Rubygems Rubygems.org, published May 5, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.94%, the 80th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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