CVE-2014-1831 — passenger
Fix: phusion/passenger@34b1087CVE-2014-1831 is a security vulnerability in passenger. A fix is available for passenger — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Insecure use of temporary files in passenger
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
passengerReal-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
Phusion Passenger before 4.0.37 allows local users to write to certain files and directories via a symlink attack on (1) control_process.pid or a (2) generation-* file.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | passenger | all versions | 4.0.38bundle update passenger --conservative |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for passenger, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update passenger to 4.0.38 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2014-1831 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-2014-1831 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2014-1831. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2014-1831 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2014-1831 across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.