CVE-2024-47888 — actiontext
Fix: rails/rails@4f4312bCVE-2024-47888 is a CWE-1333 vulnerability in actiontext. A fix is available for actiontext — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Action Text has possible ReDoS vulnerability in plain_text_for_blockquote_node
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- 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-2024-47888.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
actiontext💎actiontext💎actiontext💎actiontextReal-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
Action Text brings rich text content and editing to Rails. Starting in version 6.0.0 and prior to versions 6.1.7.9, 7.0.8.5, 7.1.4.1, and 7.2.1.1, there is a possible ReDoS vulnerability in the plain_text_for_blockquote_node helper in Action Text. Carefully crafted text can cause the plain_text_for_blockquote_node helper to take an unexpected amount of time, possibly resulting in a DoS vulnerability. All users running an affected release should either upgrade to versions 6.1.7.9, 7.0.8.5, 7.1.4.1, or 7.2.1.1 or apply the relevant patch immediately. As a workaround, users can avoid calling plain_text_for_blockquote_node or upgrade to Ruby 3.2. Ruby 3.2 has mitigations for this problem, so Rails applications using Ruby 3.2 or newer are unaffected. Rails 8.0.0.beta1 depends on Ruby 3.2 or greater so is unaffected.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | actiontext | ≥ 6.0.0&&< 6.1.7.9 | 6.1.7.9bundle update actiontext --conservative |
| 💎RubyGems | actiontext | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.8.5 | 7.0.8.5bundle update actiontext --conservative |
| 💎RubyGems | actiontext | ≥ 7.1.0&&< 7.1.4.1 | 7.1.4.1bundle update actiontext --conservative |
| 💎RubyGems | actiontext | ≥ 7.2.0&&< 7.2.1.1 | 7.2.1.1bundle update actiontext --conservative |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for actiontext, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update actiontext to 6.1.7.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-47888 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.
Users can avoid calling `plain_text_for_blockquote_node` or upgrade to Ruby 3.2.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2024-47888 (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-47888 in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.