CVE-2019-16892 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) vulnerability in rubyzip. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for rubyzip — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Rubyzip denial of service
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2019-16892 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
rubyzipReal-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
In Rubyzip before 1.3.0, a crafted ZIP file can bypass application checks on ZIP entry sizes because data about the uncompressed size can be spoofed. This allows attackers to cause a denial of service (disk consumption).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | rubyzip | all versions | 1.3.0bundle update rubyzip --conservative |
Affected Products
fedorafedoraprojectcloudformsredhatrubyziprubyzip_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for rubyzip, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update rubyzip to 1.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-16892 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
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 Hat CloudForms 4.7 (5.10.13) release is affected, but not vulnerable as they include fixes for Rubyzip version 1.3.0. This issue was fixed in RHBA-2019:4047 (https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:4047) as part of CFME component.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| CloudForms Management Engine 5.10 | cfme-0:5.10.13.1-1.el7cf | RHBA-2019:4047 |
| CloudForms Management Engine 5.11 | cfme-0:5.11.1.2-1.el8cf | RHSA-2019:4201 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-16892 in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.