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CVE-2013-4287 rubygems-update

Fix: rubygems/rubygems@938a7e3

CVE-2013-4287 is a CWE-310 vulnerability in rubygems-update. A fix is available for rubygems-update — see the affected versions and patch details below.

RubyGems Regular Expression Denial of Service vulnerability

Also known asGHSA-9j7m-rjqx-48vh
Published
Oct 17, 2013
Updated
Apr 16, 2026
Affected
4 pkgs
Patched
4 / 4
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Sep 20, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
3.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs88th percentile — riskier than 88% 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

4 pkgs affected
💎rubygems-update💎rubygems-update💎rubygems-update💎rubygems-update

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

Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in Gem::Version::VERSION_PATTERN in lib/rubygems/version.rb in RubyGems before 1.8.23.1, 1.8.24 through 1.8.25, 2.0.x before 2.0.8, and 2.1.x before 2.1.0, as used in Ruby 1.9.0 through 2.0.0p247, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted gem version that triggers a large amount of backtracking in a regular expression.

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
💎RubyGemsrubygems-updateall versions1.8.23.1bundle update rubygems-update --conservative
💎RubyGemsrubygems-update1.8.24&&< 1.8.261.8.26bundle update rubygems-update --conservative
💎RubyGemsrubygems-update2.0.0&&< 2.0.82.0.8bundle update rubygems-update --conservative
💎RubyGemsrubygems-update2.1.0.rc.1&&< 2.1.02.1.0bundle update rubygems-update --conservative

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

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

  2. Fix

    Update rubygems-update to 1.8.23.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2013-4287 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2013-4287 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to CVE-2013-4287. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatModerate

Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise 1.2 is now in Production 1 Phase of the support and maintenance life cycle. This has been rated as having Moderate security impact and is not currently planned to be addressed in future updates. For additional information, refer to the Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise Life…

ProductFixed inAdvisory
OpenStack 3 for RHEL 6ruby193-ruby-0:1.9.3.448-40.el6RHSA-2013:1523
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6rubygems-0:1.3.7-4.el6_4RHSA-2013:1441
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2cumin-0:0.1.5787-4.el6RHSA-2013:1852
Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise 2.0rubygems-0:1.8.24-5.el6opRHSA-2014:0207
Red Hat Software Collections for RHEL-6ruby193-ruby-0:1.9.3.448-40.el6RHSA-2013:1427

Frequently Asked Questions

Algorithmic complexity vulnerability in Gem::Version::VERSION_PATTERN in lib/rubygems/version.rb in RubyGems before 1.8.23.1, 1.8.24 through 1.8.25, 2.0.x before 2.0.8, and 2.1.x before 2.1.0, as used in Ruby 1.9.0 through 2.0.0p247, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted gem version that triggers a large amount of backtracking in a regular expression.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2013-4287 in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds CVE-2013-4287 across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

CVE-2013-4287: rubygems-update DoS | O3 Security