GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx
HIGHPuma PROXY Protocol v1 Accepts Repeated Protocol Headers on Persistent Connections
Blast Radius
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Description
Impact
Puma is vulnerable to source IP spoofing when set_remote_address proxy_protocol: :v1 is enabled and persistent connections are used.
PROXY protocol v1 is a connection-level protocol. Support was added to Puma in v5.5.0. A proxy sends one PROXY header at the beginning of a TCP connection, before any HTTP data. Puma incorrectly re-parsed PROXY protocol headers after each keep-alive request on the same connection. An attacker able to send HTTP requests through a trusted proxy could therefore inject a second PROXY header between HTTP requests. Puma would treat the injected header as authoritative for the next request and overwrite REMOTE_ADDR.
This can mislead applications or middleware that use REMOTE_ADDR for security decisions, rate limiting, auditing, or allow/deny lists.
Only deployments that explicitly enable PROXY protocol v1 are affected, and will have set:
set_remote_address proxy_protocol: :v1
Puma's default configuration is not affected. Deployments that do not use persistent connections to Puma are also not expected to be affected by this issue.
Patches
Users should upgrade to versions 7.2.1 or 8.0.2.
Workarounds
Disable PROXY protocol v1 parsing if it is not required:
# remove/comment this:
# set_remote_address proxy_protocol: :v1
Users can also disable persistent connections to Puma, for example:
enable_keep_alives false
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | puma | ≥ 8.0.0&&< 8.0.2 | 8.0.2 |
| 💎RubyGems | puma | ≥ 5.5.0&&< 7.2.1 | 7.2.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for puma. 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 puma to 8.0.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx 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 GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx 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 GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-2vqw-3mp8-cgmx across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.