How severe is CVE-2010-5142?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2010-5142 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2010-5142?

CVE-2010-5142 affects the following packages: chef (RubyGems). Ecosystems affected: RubyGems.

How do I fix CVE-2010-5142?

Update chef to 0.9.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2010-5142 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2010-5142 in my RubyGems dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for chef, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2010-5142 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2010-5142?

O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2010-5142 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Is CVE-2010-5142 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2010-5142 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2010-5142?

CVE-2010-5142 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.6%, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2010-5142?

CVE-2010-5142 is classified as CWE-264 (CWE-264). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2010-5142 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2010-5142 was published on May 17, 2022 and was last updated on December 6, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

💎 RubyGems

Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2010-5142 — chef

Fix: opscode/chef@c3bb41f

CVE-2010-5142 is a CWE-264 vulnerability in chef. A fix is available for chef — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Chef Improper Access Control vulnerability

Published

May 17, 2022

Updated

Dec 6, 2024

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Sep 18, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs74th percentile — riskier than 74% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

💎chef

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

chef-server-api/app/controllers/users.rb in the API in Chef before 0.9.0 does not require administrative privileges for the create, destroy, and update methods, which allows remote authenticated users to manage user accounts via requests to the /users URI.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💎RubyGems	`chef`	all versions	0.9.0`bundle update chef --conservative`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for chef, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update chef to 0.9.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2010-5142 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2010-5142 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to CVE-2010-5142. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

`chef-server-api/app/controllers/users.rb` in the API in Chef before 0.9.0 does not require administrative privileges for the create, destroy, and update methods, which allows remote authenticated users to manage user accounts via requests to the /users URI.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2010-5142 in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds CVE-2010-5142 across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works