GHSA-fp4w-jxhp-m23p is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) vulnerability in bundler. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for bundler — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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
bundler💎bundlerReal-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
Bundler 1.16.0 through 2.2.9 and 2.2.11 through 2.2.16 sometimes chooses a dependency source based on the highest gem version number, which means that a rogue gem found at a public source may be chosen, even if the intended choice was a private gem that is a dependency of another private gem that is explicitly depended on by the application. NOTE: it is not correct to use CVE-2021-24105 for every "Dependency Confusion" issue in every product.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | bundler | ≥ 1.16.0&&< 2.2.10 | 2.2.10bundle update bundler --conservative |
| 💎RubyGems | bundler | ≥ 2.2.11&&< 2.2.18 | 2.2.18bundle update bundler --conservative |
Affected Products
bundlerbundlerfedorafedoraprojectpackage manager configurationsmicrosoftResearch 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 bundler, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update bundler to 2.2.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-fp4w-jxhp-m23p 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.
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.
Red Hat Satellite does not ship RubyGem bundler, however, the product consumes it from the Red Hat Software Collections (RHSCL) repository.
This issue only affects configurations where gem packages are installed from multiple sources and the source repositories are explicitly defined for at least some gems. Dependencies of those source-restricted gems may be installed form a different repository, even if the same repository provides those dependencies, which is inconsistent with the intended behaviour described in the Bundler documentation. There are multiple possible approaches to mitigate this issue - customers should evaluate which approaches are usable in their environments. * Explicitly define source for all dependency gems in the Gemfile configuration. When a dependency of a source-restricted gem is also to be installed…Source: Red Hat security advisory for GHSA-fp4w-jxhp-m23p (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | ruby:2.7-8040020210728141159.522a0ee4 | RHSA-2021:3020 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | ruby:2.6-8050020211215144356.c5368500 | RHSA-2022:0543 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | ruby:2.5-8050020220112131355.c5368500 | RHSA-2022:0545 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 Update Services for SAP Solutions | ruby:2.5-8010020220201125517.c27ad7f8 | RHSA-2022:0548 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 Update Services for SAP Solutions | ruby:2.6-8010020220201152941.c27ad7f8 | RHSA-2022:0581 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Extended Update Support | ruby:2.5-8020020220201125131.4cda2c84 | RHSA-2022:0547 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Extended Update Support | ruby:2.6-8020020220201131207.4cda2c84 | RHSA-2022:0582 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Extended Update Support | ruby:2.6-8040020220131135901.522a0ee4 | RHSA-2022:0544 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-fp4w-jxhp-m23p in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.