CVE-2024-27281
MEDIUMCVE-2024-27281 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.5) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in rdoc. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-27281 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
RDoc RCE vulnerability with .rdoc_options
Blast Radius
rdoc💎rdoc💎rdoc💎rdocReal-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
An issue was discovered in RDoc 6.3.3 through 6.6.2, as distributed in Ruby 3.x through 3.3.0. When parsing .rdoc_options (used for configuration in RDoc) as a YAML file, object injection and resultant remote code execution are possible because there are no restrictions on the classes that can be restored. (When loading the documentation cache, object injection and resultant remote code execution are also possible if there were a crafted cache.) The main fixed version is 6.6.3.1. For Ruby 3.0 users, a fixed version is rdoc 6.3.4.1. For Ruby 3.1 users, a fixed version is rdoc 6.4.1.1. For Ruby 3.2 users, a fixed version is rdoc 6.5.1.1.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | rdoc | ≥ 6.3.3&&< 6.3.4.1 | 6.3.4.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | rdoc | ≥ 6.4.0&&< 6.4.1.1 | 6.4.1.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | rdoc | ≥ 6.5.0&&< 6.5.1.1 | 6.5.1.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | rdoc | ≥ 6.6.0&&< 6.6.3.1 | 6.6.3.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for rdoc. 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 rdoc to 6.3.4.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-27281 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-2024-27281 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-2024-27281. 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-2024-27281 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-27281 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.