RailsApplication · Rubyonrails
CVE-2015-3227
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 (1) jdom.rb and (2) rexml.rb components in Active Support in Ruby on Rails before 4.1.11 and 4.2.x before 4.2.2, when JDOM or REXML is enabled, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (SystemStackError) via a large XML document depth.
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 confidenceActive Support in Ruby on Rails contains a denial of service vulnerability in its jdom.rb and rexml.rb XML processing components. When JDOM or REXML parsers are enabled, deeply nested XML documents cause excessive recursive parsing that triggers a SystemStackError (stack overflow), leading to service unavailability.
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
= 4.1.0= 4.1.1= 4.1.2= 4.1.3= 4.1.4= 4.1.5= 4.1.6= 4.1.7= 4.1.8= 4.2.0= 4.2.1= 13.1= 13.2CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/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 installed Rails versionCheck the Gemfile.lock for the rails gem version, or run `rails -v` in the application root, or inspect the version file in the Rails library directoryAffected if The version is 4.1.0 through 4.1.8, or 4.2.0 through 4.2.1 (including 4.2.0 and 4.2.1)
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Confirm XML parser is enabledSearch Rails configuration files (config/application.rb, config/environments/*.rb, and any initializers) for references to 'REXML', 'JDOM', or 'XmlParser' that load or enable XML parsingAffected if The application configuration loads or enables either the REXML or JDOM XML parser
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Check for XML parser initialization codeInspect config/initializers/ directory for any file that calls methods related to XML parsing, such as `ActionDispatch::XmlParser` or sets parser adapters to REXML or JDOMAffected if The application explicitly sets the XML parser to REXML or JDOM, or loads an XML parsing library that uses these parsers
A system is affected only if it runs a Rails version in the 4.1.0-4.1.8 or 4.2.0-4.2.1 range AND has either the REXML or JDOM XML parser enabled in the Rails configuration.
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 Ruby on Rails to version 4.1.11 or later (for the 4.1.x branch) or 4.2.2 or later (for the 4.2.x branch). Additionally, implement XML input validation to limit document depth and reject overly nested documents as a defense-in-depth measure.
Fix this in Rails
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-3227 — 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-2015-3227 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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