How severe is CVE-2017-14506?

CVE-2017-14506 has a CVSS score of 5.4/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2017-14506?

CVE-2017-14506 affects the following packages: geminabox (RubyGems). Ecosystems affected: RubyGems.

How do I fix CVE-2017-14506?

Update geminabox to 0.13.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-14506 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2017-14506 in my RubyGems dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2017-14506 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Is CVE-2017-14506 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 1 known exploit references for CVE-2017-14506, including 1 in-the-wild exploitation observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2017-14506?

CVE-2017-14506 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.7%, placing it in the 53th 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-2017-14506?

CVE-2017-14506 is classified as Cross-site Scripting (XSS) (CWE-79). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2017-14506 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2017-14506 was published on September 25, 2017 and was last updated on October 20, 2026. 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2017-14506 — geminabox

MEDIUMFix: geminabox/geminabox@99aaae1

CVE-2017-14506 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.4) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in geminabox. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for geminabox — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Gem in a Box vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting

Also known asGHSA-98hq-3qvg-pg78

Published

Sep 25, 2017

Updated

Oct 20, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

1 known

Exploitation data as of Nov 6, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs53th percentile — riskier than 53% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

💎geminabox

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

geminabox (aka Gem in a Box) before 0.13.6 is vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (XSS), as demonstrated by uploading a gem file that has a crafted gem.homepage value in its .gemspec file.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💎RubyGems	`geminabox`	all versions	0.13.6`bundle update geminabox --conservative`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

geminaboxgeminabox_project

≤ 0.13.5

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

geminabox (aka Gem in a Box) before 0.13.6 has XSS, as demonstrated by u…

baraktawily.blogspot.co.ilNVDOct 2019

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for geminabox, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update geminabox to 0.13.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-14506 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

geminabox (aka Gem in a Box) before 0.13.6 is vulnerable to Cross-site Scripting (XSS), as demonstrated by uploading a gem file that has a crafted gem.homepage value in its .gemspec file.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2017-14506 in your dependencies?

Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.4/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

Required

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

Low

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-79Cross-site Scripting (XSS)

Weaponization

No Nuclei template or Metasploit module yet. 1 public proof-of-concept reference is listed on this page.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

geminabox

6.4/10

Maintained10/10

Code-Review0/10

Branch-Protection3/10

Assessed Oct 19, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Sep 25, 2017

First exploit

Oct 17, 2019

Last updated

Oct 20, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2017-14506

GHSA-98hq-3qvg-pg78

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2017 14506 Fixgithub.com · CHANGELOG.md Webgithub.com · 99aaae196c4fc6ae0df28e186ca1e493ae658e02 Packagegithub.com · geminabox Evidencebaraktawily.blogspot.co.il · gem in box xss vulenrability cve 2017

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects geminabox

This CVE is medium severity; 2 of 2 other CVEs affecting geminabox are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2017-14683CVE-2017-16792

Same weakness: CWE-79

This CVE is medium severity; 6 of 6 other CVEs with CWE-79 are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2026-55649CVE-2026-113787CVE-2026-44267CVE-2026-96632CVE-2026-9086CVE-2026-118246Browse all CWE-79

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 20, 2026