CVE-2023-22794
HIGHSQL Injection Vulnerability via ActiveRecord comments
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.
Blast Radius
activerecord💎activerecord💎activerecordReal-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
A vulnerability in ActiveRecord <6.0.6.1, v6.1.7.1 and v7.0.4.1 related to the sanitization of comments. If malicious user input is passed to either the annotate query method, the optimizer_hints query method, or through the QueryLogs interface which automatically adds annotations, it may be sent to the database withinsufficient sanitization and be able to inject SQL outside of the comment.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | activerecord | ≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.0.6.1 | 6.0.6.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | activerecord | ≥ 6.1.0&&< 6.1.7.1 | 6.1.7.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | activerecord | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.4.1 | 7.0.4.1 |
Research 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 activerecord. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update activerecord to 6.0.6.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-22794 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-22794 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2023-22794. 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-2023-22794 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-22794 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.