GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p — websocket-driver
Fix: faye/websocket-driver-ruby@d0141f0GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p is a CWE-770 vulnerability in websocket-driver. A fix is available for websocket-driver — see the affected versions and patch details below.
websocket-driver: Memory exhaustion via abuse of protocol length headers
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.
Real-World Exposure
websocket-driverReal-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
The frame format in draft versions of the WebSocket protocol includes a length header that allows an arbitrarily large integer to be encoded as a sequence of bytes with the high bit set. By sending an indefinite sequence of bytes with values 0x80 or above, a server or client can make the other peer parse these bytes into an ever-growing integer. Since Ruby integers are arbitrary precision, this can be used to make a WebSocket connection consume an unbounded amount of memory and lead to the host process running out of memory.
Patches
The issue has been patched in version 0.8.1. All users should upgrade to this version.
Workarounds
No known workarounds exist.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered and reported by Pranjali Thakur, DepthFirst Security Research Team.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | websocket-driver | all versions | 0.8.1bundle update websocket-driver --conservative |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for websocket-driver, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update websocket-driver to 0.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p. 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-ghhp-3qvg-889p in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-ghhp-3qvg-889p across RubyGems dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.