arr-pm vulnerable to arbitrary shell execution when extracting or listing files contained in a malicious rpmGHSA-88cv-mj24-8w3q
HIGHFix: jordansissel/ruby-arr-pm#14GHSA-88cv-mj24-8w3q is a high-severity (CVSS 7) OS Command Injection vulnerability in arr-pm. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for arr-pm — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-88cv-mj24-8w3q.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
arr-pmReal-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
Impact
Arbitrary shell execution is possible when using RPM::File#files and RPM::File#extract if the RPM contains a malicious "payload compressor" field.
This vulnerability impacts the extract and files methods of the RPM::File class in the affected versions of this library.
Patches
Version 0.0.12 is available with a fix for these issues.
Workarounds
When using an affected version of this library (arr-pm), ensure any RPMs being processed contain valid/known payload compressor values. Such values include: gzip, bzip2, xz, zstd, and lzma.
You can check the payload compressor field in an rpm by using the rpm command line tool. For example:
% rpm -qp example-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm --qf "%{PAYLOADCOMPRESSOR}\n"
gzip
Impact on known dependent projects
This library is used by fpm. The vulnerability may impact fpm only when using the flag -s rpm or --input-type rpm to convert a malicious rpm to another format. It does not impact creating rpms.
References
- https://github.com/jordansissel/ruby-arr-pm/pull/14
- https://github.com/jordansissel/ruby-arr-pm/pull/15
Credit
Thanks to @joernchen for reporting this problem and contributing to the resolution :)
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in the arr-pm issue tracker
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | arr-pm | all versions | 0.0.12bundle update arr-pm --conservative |
Affected Products
ruby-arr-pmruby-arr-pm_projectResearch 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 arr-pm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update arr-pm to 0.0.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-88cv-mj24-8w3q is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-88cv-mj24-8w3q in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.