How severe is GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

No CVSS score has been assigned to GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 affects the following packages: activesupport (RubyGems), activesupport (RubyGems). Ecosystems affected: RubyGems.

How do I fix GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

Update activesupport to 6.1.7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 in my RubyGems dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for activesupport. 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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.7%, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2?

GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 is classified as Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400), CWE-1333 (CWE-1333). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 was published on January 18, 2023 and was last updated on February 18, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

💎 RubyGems

GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2

ReDoS based DoS vulnerability in Active Support's underscore

Also known asCVE-2023-22796

Published

Jan 18, 2023

Updated

Feb 18, 2025

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk74th percentile+0.19%

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

2 pkgs affected

💎activesupport💎activesupport

Real-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 possible regular expression based DoS vulnerability in Active Support. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22796.

Versions Affected: All Not affected: None Fixed Versions: 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

A specially crafted string passed to the underscore method can cause the regular expression engine to enter a state of catastrophic backtracking. This can cause the process to use large amounts of CPU and memory, leading to a possible DoS vulnerability.

This affects String#underscore, ActiveSupport::Inflector.underscore, String#titleize, and any other methods using these.

All users running an affected release should either upgrade or use one of the workarounds immediately. Releases

The FIXED releases are available at the normal locations. Workarounds

There are no feasible workarounds for this issue.

Users on Ruby 3.2.0 or greater may be able to reduce the impact by configuring Regexp.timeout. Patches

To aid users who aren’t able to upgrade immediately we have provided patches for the two supported release series. They are in git-am format and consist of a single changeset.

6-1-Avoid-regex-backtracking-in-Inflector.underscore.patch - Patch for 6.1 series
7-0-Avoid-regex-backtracking-in-Inflector.underscore.patch - Patch for 7.0 series

Please note that only the 7.0.Z and 6.1.Z series are supported at present, and 6.0.Z for severe vulnerabilities. Users of earlier unsupported releases are advised to upgrade as soon as possible as we cannot guarantee the continued availability of security fixes for unsupported releases.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
💎RubyGems	`activesupport`	all versions	6.1.7.1
💎RubyGems	`activesupport`	≥ 7.0.0&&< 7.0.4.1	7.0.4.1

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for activesupport. 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 activesupport to 6.1.7.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 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-j6gc-792m-qgm2 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-j6gc-792m-qgm2. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

There is a possible regular expression based DoS vulnerability in Active Support. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2023-22796. Versions Affected: All Not affected: None Fixed Versions: 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 A specially crafted string passed to the underscore method can cause the regular expression engine to enter a state of catastrophic backtracking. This can cause the process to use large amounts of CPU and memory, leading to a possible DoS vulnerability. This affects String#underscore,

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2 across RubyGems dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works