Ruby JssApplication · Pixar
CVE-2021-33575
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 Pixar ruby-jss gem before 1.6.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code because of the Plist gem's documented behavior of using Marshal.load during XML document processing.
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 Pixar ruby-jss gem before version 1.6.0 is vulnerable to remote code execution due to the Plist gem's unsafe use of Marshal.load when processing XML property list documents. Since Marshal.load can deserialize arbitrary Ruby objects, attackers can craft malicious XML data to execute arbitrary code on the affected system.
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
Ruby JssApplication
< 1.6.0CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 ruby-jss gem versionRun 'gem list ruby-jss' or add 'puts Gem::Specification.find_by_name("ruby-jss").version' in a Ruby script to retrieve the installed versionAffected if The installed version is below 1.6.0
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Identify Plist gem versionRun 'gem list plist' or inspect the Plist gem version in your Gemfile.lockAffected if The Plist gem version is old and uses Marshal.load for XML processing (check gem source code for Marshal.load usage in XML parsing)
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Locate XML plist processing codeSearch project codebase for patterns like Plist::parse_xml, File.open with .plist extension, or direct Plist gem calls that handle XML property listsAffected if The application parses XML property list documents using the Plist gem
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Determine if user input flows to plist parsingReview code that calls Plist parsing methods and trace whether external or user-supplied data reaches those callsAffected if Untrusted XML plist data can be passed to the Plist gem's parsing methods
You are affected if ruby-jss version is below 1.6.0 AND your application processes XML property list documents with the Plist gem, especially when handling untrusted input.
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.
dbcve · scoped1.6.0
Upgrade the ruby-jss gem to version 1.6.0 or later, which should include a patched version of the Plist gem that avoids unsafe deserialization. Alternatively, ensure the Plist gem is updated to a version that does not use Marshal.load for XML processing.
1.6.0
- Check your current ruby-jss gem version using `gem list ruby-jss` or `bundle list`
- Upgrade the ruby-jss gem to version 1.6.0 or later by running `gem install ruby-jss -v '>= 1.6.0'` or `bundle update ruby-jss`
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the installed version with `gem list ruby-jss`
- Test your application to ensure functionality is intact after the upgrade
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Ruby Jss
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-33575 — 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-2021-33575 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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