CVE-2022-3704: Disputed Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability in Ruby on Rails

Note: The existence of this vulnerability has been disputed by the Rails team, and it has been classified as problematic. Please read the entire post for additional information.

A potential vulnerability, classified as problematic, has been reported in Ruby on Rails. This disputed vulnerability affects an unknown part of the file actionpack/lib/action_dispatch/middleware/templates/routes/_table.html.erb and could lead to cross-site scripting (XSS) if it exists. The attack can allegedly be initiated remotely, although the real existence of this vulnerability is still doubted at the moment. The associated identifier for this vulnerability is VDB-212319. However, it's important to note that the Rails team maintainer has declared that there isn’t a valid attack vector, and the issue was wrongly reported as a security vulnerability by a non-member of the Rails team.

The name of the patch addressing this issue is be177e4566747b73ff63fd5f529fab564e475ed4. Despite the disputed nature of this vulnerability, it is recommended to apply the patch to ensure the security of your Ruby on Rails application.

Code Snippet

Below is an excerpt from the file actionpack/lib/action_dispatch/middleware/templates/routes/_table.html.erb that is allegedly affected by this vulnerability:

<% @routes.each do |r| %>
  <tr>
    <td><%= r[:name].to_s %></td>
    <td><%= r[:verb] %></td>
    <td><%= r[:path].gsub("(.:format)", "") %></td>
    <td><%= r[:controller] %>#<%= r[:action] %></td>
    <td><%= r[:constraints] %></td>
    ...
  </tr>
<% end %>

Original References

1. Ruby on Rails GitHub Repository
2. Commit be177e4566747b73ff63fd5f529fab564e475ed4
3. Vulnerability Database - VDB-212319

Exploit Details

As mentioned earlier, the existence of this vulnerability has been disputed, and it has been classified as problematic. According to the original report, an attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to inject malicious JavaScript code and perform a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack. However, the Rails team has disputed this, stating that there is no valid attack vector, and the issue was incorrectly reported as a security vulnerability.

Recommendation

Although the existence of this vulnerability is in question, it is still advisable to apply the patch be177e4566747b73ff63fd5f529fab564e475ed4 to protect your Ruby on Rails application. Staying up-to-date with the latest Ruby on Rails versions and applying all relevant patches will help keep your application secure.

Conclusion

CVE-2022-3704 refers to a disputed cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ruby on Rails that affects the file "actionpack/lib/action_dispatch/middleware/templates/routes/_table.html.erb." Despite the Rails team maintainer declaring there isn’t a valid attack vector, it is recommended that you apply the provided patch to maintain the security of your application.

Timeline

Published on: 10/26/2022 20:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 01/19/2023 23:15:00 UTC