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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2019-8323

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-06-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.0.2 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.6 and later through 3.0.2. Gem::GemcutterUtilities#with_response may output the API response to stdout as it is. Therefore, if the API side modifies the response, escape sequence injection may occur.

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

RubyGems' Gem::GemcutterUtilities#with_response method outputs API responses directly to stdout without sanitizing escape sequences. A compromised or malicious gem server could inject ANSI escape sequences into responses, allowing terminal manipulation, screen clearing, or command execution in vulnerable terminal emulators.

MitigationUpgrade RubyGems to version 3.0.3 or later which addresses this vulnerability by properly escaping API responses before output to stdout.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0
RubygemsApplication
Affected:>= 2.6.0, <= 3.0.2
LeapOperating system
Affected:= 15.0= 15.1

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 RubyGems version
    Run `gem --version` or `ruby -e "require 'rubygems'; puts Gem::VERSION"`
    Affected if Version is between 2.6.0 and 3.0.2 inclusive
  2. Check Ruby version and platform package
    Run `ruby --version` and check if using system Ruby on Debian 9, OpenSUSE Leap 15.0, or 15.1
    Affected if Running Ruby with RubyGems package from affected Debian or OpenSUSE versions
  3. Verify vulnerable Gem::GemcutterUtilities is loaded
    Check if the gem command is used to interact with gem servers (gem install, gem search, gem owner) - these trigger the with_response method
    Affected if Using gem commands that query remote gem servers with RubyGems in affected version range
  4. Confirm gemcutter utilities presence
    Run `ruby -e "require 'rubygems/gemcutter_utilities'; puts 'vulnerable module loaded'"`
    Affected if Module loads without error on affected RubyGems versions

User is affected if RubyGems version is 2.6.0 through 3.0.2 and they use gem commands that interact with remote gem servers.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.0.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade RubyGems to version 3.0.3 or later which addresses this vulnerability by properly escaping API responses before output to stdout.

Fix this in Debian Linux 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
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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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-2019-8323 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