How severe is CVE-2024-27281?

CVE-2024-27281 has a CVSS score of 4.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-27281?

CVE-2024-27281 affects the following packages: rdoc (RubyGems), rdoc (RubyGems), rdoc (RubyGems), rdoc (RubyGems). Ecosystems affected: RubyGems.

How do I fix CVE-2024-27281?

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.

How do I detect CVE-2024-27281 in my RubyGems dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2024-27281 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Is CVE-2024-27281 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2024-27281 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2024-27281?

CVE-2024-27281 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.6%, placing it in the 76th 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-2024-27281?

CVE-2024-27281 is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). 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-2024-27281 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2024-27281 was published on May 14, 2024 and was last updated on April 16, 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-2024-27281 — rdoc

MEDIUMFix: ruby/rdoc@1254b00

CVE-2024-27281 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.5) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in rdoc. A fix is available for rdoc — see the affected versions and patch details below.

RDoc RCE vulnerability with .rdoc_options

Also known asGHSA-592j-995h-p23j

Published

May 14, 2024

Updated

Apr 16, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

4 / 4

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 8, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Proof-of-concept exploit code exists

CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-27281.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs76th percentile — riskier than 76% 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

4 pkgs affected

💎rdoc💎rdoc💎rdoc💎rdoc

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

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.

We recommend to update the RDoc gem to version 6.6.3.1 or later. In order to ensure compatibility with bundled version in older Ruby series, you may update as follows instead:

For Ruby 3.0 users: Update to rdoc 6.3.4.1
For Ruby 3.1 users: Update to rdoc 6.4.1.1
For Ruby 3.2 users: Update to rdoc 6.5.1.1

You can use gem update rdoc to update it. If you are using bundler, please add gem "rdoc", ">= 6.6.3.1" to your Gemfile.

Note: 6.3.4, 6.4.1, 6.5.1 and 6.6.3 have a incorrect fix. We recommend to upgrade 6.3.4.1, 6.4.1.1, 6.5.1.1 and 6.6.3.1 instead of them.

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💎RubyGems	`rdoc`	≥ 6.3.3&&< 6.3.4.1	6.3.4.1`bundle update rdoc --conservative`
💎RubyGems	`rdoc`	≥ 6.4.0&&< 6.4.1.1	6.4.1.1`bundle update rdoc --conservative`
💎RubyGems	`rdoc`	≥ 6.5.0&&< 6.5.1.1	6.5.1.1`bundle update rdoc --conservative`
💎RubyGems	`rdoc`	≥ 6.6.0&&< 6.6.3.1	6.6.3.1`bundle update rdoc --conservative`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for rdoc, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
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
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

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 HatModerate

An attacker would need to provide a maliciously crafted configuration file or documentation cache to a user in order to trigger this vulnerability.

Workaround published by Red Hat

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.

Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2024-27281 (CC BY 4.0)

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`ruby:3.0-8100020240522072634.489197e6`	RHSA-2024:3500
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`ruby:3.1-8100020240510101534.489197e6`	RHSA-2024:3546
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`ruby:3.3-8100020240522151542.489197e6`	RHSA-2024:3670
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8	`ruby:2.5-8100020240627152904.489197e6`	RHSA-2024:4499
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9	`ruby:3.1-9040020240503183840.9`	RHSA-2024:3668
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9	`ruby:3.3-9040020240522171337.9`	RHSA-2024:3671
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9	`ruby-0:3.0.7-162.el9_4`	RHSA-2024:3838

Frequently Asked Questions

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. We recommend to update the RDoc gem to version 6.6.3.1 or later. In order to ensure compatibility with bundled version in older Ruby series, you ma

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