BundlerApplication

CVE-2021-43809

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.2.33 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Patch available

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
`Bundler` is a package for managing application dependencies in Ruby. In `bundler` versions before 2.2.33, when working with untrusted and apparently harmless `Gemfile`'s, it is not expected that they lead to execution of external code, unless that's explicit in the ruby code inside the `Gemfile` itself. However, if the `Gemfile` includes `gem` entries that use the `git` option with invalid, but seemingly harmless, values with a leading dash, this can be false. To handle dependencies that come from a Git repository instead of a registry, Bundler uses various commands, such as `git clone`. These commands are being constructed using user input (e.g. the repository URL). When building the commands, Bundler versions before 2.2.33 correctly avoid Command Injection vulnerabilities by passing an array of arguments instead of a command string. However, there is the possibility that a user input starts with a dash (`-`) and is therefore treated as an optional argument instead of a positional one. This can lead to Code Execution because some of the commands have options that can be leveraged to run arbitrary executables. Since this value comes from the `Gemfile` file, it can contain any character, including a leading dash. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker has to craft a directory containing a `Gemfile` file that declares a dependency that is located in a Git repository. This dependency has to have a Git URL in the form of `-u./payload`. This URL will be used to construct a Git clone command but will be interpreted as the upload-pack argument. Then this directory needs to be shared with the victim, who then needs to run a command that evaluates the Gemfile, such as `bundle lock`, inside. This vulnerability can lead to Arbitrary Code Execution, which could potentially lead to the takeover of the system. However, the exploitability is very low, because it requires a lot of user interaction. Bundler 2.2.33 has patched this problem by inserting `--` as an argument before any positional arguments to those Git commands that were affected by this issue. Regardless of whether users can upgrade or not, they should review any untrustred `Gemfile`'s before running any `bundler` commands that may read them, since they can contain arbitrary ruby code.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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
BundlerApplication
Affected:< 2.2.33

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.2.33 or later
Fixed in 2.2.33
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Bundler 2.2.33 or later

  1. Ensure you have Ruby installed on your system
  2. Run `gem install bundler -v 2.2.33` to install the patched version of Bundler
  3. Alternatively, you can run `gem install bundler` to get the latest version which includes the fix
  4. Verify the installation by running `bundler --version` and confirming it shows 2.2.33 or higher
  5. If you have a project with a Gemfile.lock, you may want to run `bundle install` or `bundle update` to regenerate the lock file with the new Bundler version
  6. For projects using Bundler 2.x, ensure the project specifies the correct Bundler version in the Gemfile.lock

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

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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

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