# CVE-2008-1891: Path traversal in n/a

> Remote attackers can read arbitrary CGI files via directory traversal in WEBrick when using NTFS or FAT filesystems.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Apr 2008
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rhf2-x48g-5wr7

## What is CVE-2008-1891?

CVE-2008-1891 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Ruby-Lang Ruby, published on 18 Apr 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Directory traversal vulnerability in WEBrick in Ruby 1.8.4 and earlier, 1.8.5 before 1.8.5-p231, 1.8.6 before 1.8.6-p230, 1.8.7 before 1.8.7-p22, and 1.9.0 before 1.9.0-2, when using NTFS or FAT filesystems, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary CGI files via a trailing (1) + (plus), (2) %2b (encoded plus), (3) . (dot), (4) %2e (encoded dot), or (5) %20 (encoded space) character in the URI, possibly related to the WEBrick::HTTPServlet::FileHandler and WEBrick::HTTPServer.new functionality and the :DocumentRoot option.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-1891?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ruby-Lang Ruby.

## How do I fix CVE-2008-1891?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2008-1891 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ruby-Lang Ruby

- [CVE-2009-4124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-4124/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2022-28738](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28738/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2011-4121](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4121/): Weak cryptography in OpenSSL extension of Ruby (Git trunk) (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17790](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17790/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-11465](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11465/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2008-1891 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2008-1891 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Ruby-Lang Ruby, published on 18 Apr 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-1891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ruby-Lang Ruby. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1891/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1891/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-1891
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-1891
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-1891

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-1891/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.