RailsApplication · Rubyonrails
CVE-2013-1856
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 · uneditedThe ActiveSupport::XmlMini_JDOM backend in lib/active_support/xml_mini/jdom.rb in the Active Support component in Ruby on Rails 3.0.x and 3.1.x before 3.1.12 and 3.2.x before 3.2.13, when JRuby is used, does not properly restrict the capabilities of the XML parser, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files or cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via vectors involving (1) an external DTD or (2) an external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference.
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 confidenceThe ActiveSupport::XmlMini_JDOM backend in Ruby on Rails 3.0.x-3.1.x and 3.2.x fails to disable external entity processing in the JDOM XML parser when running on JRuby. This XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability allows attackers to read arbitrary files from the server by injecting malicious entity references, or cause denial of service through resource-consuming DTD requests.
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
= 3.1.0= 3.1.1= 3.1.2= 3.1.3= 3.1.4= 3.1.5= 3.1.6= 3.1.7= 3.1.8= 3.1.9= 3.1.10= 3.2.0
Ruby On RailsApplication
= 3.1.11CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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 the installed Rails versionRun `rails --version` or check the Gemfile.lock for the rails gem versionAffected if The version is 3.1.0 through 3.1.10, 3.2.0, or 3.1.11 specifically
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Confirm the application runs on JRubyRun `ruby --version` or check the JRuby banner output; JRuby typically shows 'jruby' in the version stringAffected if The Ruby runtime is JRuby (the vulnerability only affects JRuby environments)
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Check if XmlMini_JDOM backend is in useInspect the application code for explicit configuration of `ActiveSupport::XmlMini.backend` or look for JDOM-related XML parsing codeAffected if The application explicitly sets `ActiveSupport::XmlMini.backend = ActiveSupport::XmlMini_JDOM` or uses JDOM for XML parsing
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Verify XML parsing is used in the applicationSearch codebase for XML parsing operations using REXML, Nokogiri, or JDOM-based parsers, or check for incoming XML request handlingAffected if The application processes XML input (this is required for the XXE attack vector to be exploitable)
You are affected if your Rails version is exactly 3.1.0-3.1.11 or 3.2.0, you run on JRuby, and your application uses the XmlMini_JDOM backend for XML parsing.
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 Rails 3.1.12/3.2.13 or later, or configure the JDOM parser to disable external entity resolution and DTD processing.
Fix this in Rails
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-1856 — 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-2013-1856 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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