CVE-2022-31163
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 · uneditedTZInfo is a Ruby library that provides access to time zone data and allows times to be converted using time zone rules. Versions prior to 0.36.1, as well as those prior to 1.2.10 when used with the Ruby data source tzinfo-data, are vulnerable to relative path traversal. With the Ruby data source, time zones are defined in Ruby files. There is one file per time zone. Time zone files are loaded with `require` on demand. In the affected versions, `TZInfo::Timezone.get` fails to validate time zone identifiers correctly, allowing a new line character within the identifier. With Ruby version 1.9.3 and later, `TZInfo::Timezone.get` can be made to load unintended files with `require`, executing them within the Ruby process. Versions 0.3.61 and 1.2.10 include fixes to correctly validate time zone identifiers. Versions 2.0.0 and later are not vulnerable. Version 0.3.61 can still load arbitrary files from the Ruby load path if their name follows the rules for a valid time zone identifier and the file has a prefix of `tzinfo/definition` within a directory in the load path. Applications should ensure that untrusted files are not placed in a directory on the load path. As a workaround, the time zone identifier can be validated before passing to `TZInfo::Timezone.get` by ensuring it matches the regular expression `\A[A-Za-z0-9+\-_]+(?:\/[A-Za-z0-9+\-_]+)*\z`.
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 analysisA file path is built from user input without being confined, so sequences like “../” let an attacker step outside the intended directory. That can expose configuration, credentials, or source code, and in the worst case lets an attacker write files where they shouldn't. A durable fix resolves and canonicalises the path, then rejects anything that escapes a known-safe base directory.
General guidance for the path traversal class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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= 10.0< 0.3.61>= 1.0.0, < 1.2.10CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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 · scoped0.3.611.2.10
tzinfo >= 0.3.61 (for 0.3.x line) or >= 1.2.10 (for 1.x line), preferably version 2.x
- 1. Identify the current version of tzinfo gem in your Ruby project by checking your Gemfile or running `gem list tzinfo`
- 2. For projects using tzinfo version 0.3.x: upgrade to version 0.3.61 or later (gem install tzinfo -v '~> 0.3.61' or bundle update tzinfo)
- 3. For projects using tzinfo version 1.x (1.0.0 to 1.2.9): upgrade to version 1.2.10 or later (gem install tzinfo -v '~> 1.2.10' or bundle update tzinfo)
- 4. Ideally, upgrade to tzinfo version 2.x (the latest stable release) which is not affected by this vulnerability
- 5. Run your test suite to verify the upgrade does not break existing functionality
- 6. Rebuild and redeploy your application
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-31163 — 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-2022-31163 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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