RailsApplication · Rubyonrails
CVE-2010-3933
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedRuby on Rails 2.3.9 and 3.0.0 does not properly handle nested attributes, which allows remote attackers to modify arbitrary records by changing the names of parameters for form inputs.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceRuby on Rails 2.3.9 and 3.0.0 contain a vulnerability in the nested attributes feature (accepts_nested_attributes_for). By manipulating parameter names in form submissions, remote attackers can bypass authorization checks and modify or create arbitrary records associated with the parent model, leading to unauthorized data manipulation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
RailsApplication
= 2.3.9= 3.0.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Rails versionCheck the Rails version in your Gemfile.lock, or in config/environment.rb for Rails 2.3 (look for RAILS_GEM_VERSION), or run 'rails -v' in your application rootAffected if The version is exactly 2.3.9 or 3.0.0
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Find models using nested attributesSearch your app/models directory for 'accepts_nested_attributes_for' using grep or a text search across all .rb filesAffected if Any model contains accepts_nested_attributes_for and your Rails version is 2.3.9 or 3.0.0
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Inspect controllers that process nested paramsReview the controllers handling requests with nested attributes (the model names identified in step 2). Examine the create/update actions to see if authorization checks occur BEFORE nested parameters are processedAffected if Controllers process nested attribute parameters without first verifying user authorization (such as checking cancan permissions, before_filter authorization, or other access control)
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Verify parameter filtering for nested assignmentsExamine your application logs or request traces to confirm which nested attributes are being passed to update_attributes or nested_attributes_for handlersAffected if Nested attribute parameters like model_name_attributes or model_name_id are being accepted without being explicitly filtered or whitelisted in the controller
You are affected if your Rails version is exactly 2.3.9 or 3.0.0 AND your application uses accepts_nested_attributes_for in any model AND your controllers process nested parameters without authorization checks in place.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Ruby on Rails 2.3.10+, 3.0.1+, or later patched versions. Additionally, review all uses of nested_attributes_for and ensure proper authorization is enforced at the controller level before accepting nested attribute parameters.
Fix this in Rails
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,496.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-3933 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-3933 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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