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CVE-2012-4466

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-04-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Ruby 1.8.7 before patchlevel 371, 1.9.3 before patchlevel 286, and 2.0 before revision r37068 allows context-dependent attackers to bypass safe-level restrictions and modify untainted strings via the name_err_mesg_to_str API function, which marks the string as tainted, a different vulnerability than CVE-2011-1005.

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 confidence

Ruby versions 1.8.7 before patchlevel 371, 1.9.3 before patchlevel 286, and 2.0 before revision r37068 contain a vulnerability in the name_err_mesg_to_str API function that incorrectly marks strings as tainted, allowing context-dependent attackers to bypass safe-level restrictions and modify what should be untainted strings.

MitigationUpgrade Ruby to version 1.8.7 patchlevel 371 or later, 1.9.3 patchlevel 286 or later, or 2.0 at revision r37068 or later to resolve the unsafe string tainting behavior.

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
RubyApplication
Affected:= 1.8.7= 1.9.3= 2.0= 2.0.0

CVSS 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
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Ruby version
    Run `ruby --version` or `ruby -v` to see the version number, patchlevel, and revision
    Affected if Version shows 1.8.7, 1.9.3, or 2.0 without the required patchlevel or revision
  2. Verify Ruby 1.8.7 patchlevel
    If version shows Ruby 1.8.7, run `ruby -e 'puts RUBY_PATCHLEVEL'` to get the patchlevel number
    Affected if Patchlevel is present and less than 371
  3. Verify Ruby 1.9.3 patchlevel
    If version shows Ruby 1.9.3, run `ruby -e 'puts RUBY_PATCHLEVEL'` to get the patchlevel number
    Affected if Patchlevel is present and less than 286
  4. Verify Ruby 2.0 revision
    If version shows Ruby 2.0, run `ruby -e 'puts RUBY_REVISION'` to get the SVN revision number
    Affected if Revision number is present and less than 37068

You are affected if running Ruby 1.8.7 with patchlevel below 371, Ruby 1.9.3 with patchlevel below 286, or Ruby 2.0 with revision below r37068.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Ruby to version 1.8.7 patchlevel 371 or later, 1.9.3 patchlevel 286 or later, or 2.0 at revision r37068 or later to resolve the unsafe string tainting behavior.

Fix this in Ruby Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-4466 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data