Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2019-8325

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. Since Gem::CommandManager#run calls alert_error without escaping, escape sequence injection is possible. (There are many ways to cause an error.)

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 versions 2.6 through 3.0.2 contain an escape sequence injection vulnerability in Gem::CommandManager#run. The method calls alert_error to display errors without escaping terminal escape sequences, allowing an attacker who can trigger an error condition to inject malicious ANSI escape sequences that could manipulate terminal output or potentially execute commands in vulnerable terminal emulators.

MitigationUpgrade RubyGems to version 3.0.3 or later, which includes proper escaping of escape sequences in the alert_error method. As a defensive measure, avoid running RubyGems in untrusted environments where attackers can control error-producing inputs.

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 "puts Gem::VERSION"` to retrieve the installed RubyGems version number
    Affected if The version number is >= 2.6.0 AND <= 3.0.2
  2. Confirm RubyGems package version on Debian
    If on Debian 9, run `dpkg -l | grep rubygems` or `apt-cache policy rubygems` to check the installed package version
    Affected if The installed package version matches Debian 9.0 and falls within the affected RubyGems range
  3. Confirm RubyGems package version on OpenSUSE
    If on OpenSUSE Leap 15.0 or 15.1, run `rpm -q rubygems` to check the installed package version
    Affected if The installed package version corresponds to the vulnerable RubyGems versions

A system is affected if RubyGems version is >= 2.6.0 and <= 3.0.2, or if the installed rubygems package on Debian 9.0 or OpenSUSE Leap 15.0/15.1 matches the vulnerable version range.

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 includes proper escaping of escape sequences in the alert_error method. As a defensive measure, avoid running RubyGems in untrusted environments where attackers can control error-producing inputs.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2019-8325 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