CVE-2024-32978 — kaminari
MEDIUMCVE-2024-32978 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.6) Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in kaminari. A fix is available for kaminari — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kaminari Insecure File Permissions Vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-32978.
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.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-32978 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
kaminariReal-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 moderate severity security vulnerability has been identified in the Kaminari pagination library for Ruby on Rails, concerning insecure file permissions. This advisory outlines the vulnerability, affected versions, and provides guidance for mitigation.
Impact
This vulnerability is of moderate severity due to the potential for unauthorized write access to particular Ruby files managed by the library. Such access could lead to the alteration of application behavior or data integrity issues.
Resolution
Those who use the gem install command, such as gem install kaminari -v 0.16.1, gem unpack kaminari -v 0.16.1, or bundle install to download the package would not be affected and no action is required.
Those who manually download and decompressing the affected versions are advised to update to 0.16.2 or later version of Kaminari where file permissions have been adjusted to enhance security.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not feasible immediately, manually adjusting the file permissions on the server to 644 to restrict access is a viable interim measure.
All Affected Versions:
lib/kaminari/models/page_scope_methods.rb
In addition to the previously mentioned files, security tools like AWS Inspector might also identify other files as unsafe. These files, although not loaded or used at runtime, may still be flagged. To avoid any potential confusion in your logs and ensure system integrity, we recommend updating the permissions for these files as well. This proactive measure helps maintain a clean security posture and minimizes unnecessary alerts.
Version 0.15.0 and 0.15.1:
spec/models/mongo_mapper/mongo_mapper_spec.rb
Version 0.16.0:
spec/models/mongo_mapper/mongo_mapper_spec.rb
spec/models/mongoid/mongoid_spec.rb
Version 0.16.1:
spec/models/active_record/scopes_spec.rb
spec/models/mongo_mapper/mongo_mapper_spec.rb
spec/models/mongoid/mongoid_spec.rb
gemfiles/data_mapper_12.gemfile
gemfiles/active_record_32.gemfile
References
Official Kaminari repository link (this page)
Acknowledgements
We thank Gareth Jones for discovering and reporting this issue. Their diligent work is instrumental in our ongoing efforts to maintain and improve software security.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | kaminari | ≥ 0.15.0&&< 0.16.2 | 0.16.2bundle update kaminari --conservative |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for kaminari, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update kaminari to 0.16.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-32978 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-32978 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-32978. 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-2024-32978 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-32978 across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.