GHSA-579w-22j4-4749
HIGHGHSA-579w-22j4-4749 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in activerecord. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-579w-22j4-4749 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Denial of Service Vulnerability in ActiveRecord's PostgreSQL adapter
Blast Radius
activerecord💎activerecordReal-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
There is a potential denial of service vulnerability present in ActiveRecord's PostgreSQL adapter.
This has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2022-44566.
Versions Affected: All. Not affected: None.
Fixed Versions
- 2.3.18.47 (Rails LTS, which is a paid service and not part of the rubygem)
- 3.2.22.34 (Rails LTS, which is a paid service and not part of the rubygem)
- 4.2.11.27 (Rails LTS, which is a paid service and not part of the rubygem)
- 5.2.8.15 (Rails LTS, which is a paid service and not part of the rubygem)
- 6.1.7.1
- 7.0.4.1
Impact
In ActiveRecord < 7.0.4.1 and < 6.1.7.1, when a value outside the range for a 64bit signed integer is provided to the PostgreSQL connection adapter, it will treat the target column type as numeric. Comparing integer values against numeric values can result in a slow sequential scan resulting in potential Denial of Service.
Releases
The fixed releases are available at the normal locations.
Workarounds
Ensure that user supplied input which is provided to ActiveRecord clauses do not contain integers wider than a signed 64bit representation or floats.
Patches
To aid users who aren't able to upgrade immediately we have provided patches for the supported release series in accordance with our maintenance policy 1 regarding security issues. They are in git-am format and consist of a single changeset.
6-1-Added-integer-width-check-to-PostgreSQL-Quoting.patch - Patch for 6.1 series 7-0-Added-integer-width-check-to-PostgreSQL-Quoting.patch - Patch for 7.0 series
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | activerecord | all versions | 6.1.7.1 |
| 💎RubyGems | activerecord | ≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.4.1 | 7.0.4.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for activerecord. 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 activerecord to 6.1.7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-579w-22j4-4749 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-579w-22j4-4749 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-579w-22j4-4749. 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-579w-22j4-4749 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-579w-22j4-4749 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.