# CVE-2010-3933: Rails activerecord gem has Improper Input Validation vulnerability

> Remote attackers can modify arbitrary records by manipulating nested attribute parameter names in Ruby on Rails applications.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2010
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gjxw-5w2q-7grf

## What is CVE-2010-3933?

CVE-2010-3933 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Rubyonrails Rails, published on 27 Oct 2010. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Ruby on Rails 2.3.9 and 3.0.0 does not properly handle nested attributes, which allows remote attackers to modify arbitrary records by changing the names of parameters for form inputs.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-3933?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including activerecord. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `activerecord` | RubyGems | From 2.3.9 | 2.3.10 |
| `activerecord` | RubyGems | From 2.3.9 | 2.3.10 |
| `activerecord` | RubyGems | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.1 |
| `activerecord` | RubyGems | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.1 |

Products: Rubyonrails Rails.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-3933?

Upgrade activerecord to a fixed version for your release line: 2.3.10 or 3.0.1.

## Is CVE-2010-3933 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-3933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Rubyonrails Rails

- [CVE-2013-0277](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0277/): Active Record contains deserialization of arbitrary YAML (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-17916](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17916/): SQL injection in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2017-17917](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17917/): SQL injection in n/a (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2026-33195](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33195/): Rails Active Storage has possible Path Traversal in DiskService (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2024-26142](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-26142/): Rails possible ReDoS vulnerability in Accept header parsing in Action Dispatch (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-3933 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-3933 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Rubyonrails Rails, published on 27 Oct 2010. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-3933 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- activerecord (RubyGems): affected from 2.3.9; fixed in 2.3.10
- activerecord (RubyGems): affected from 2.3.9; fixed in 2.3.10
- activerecord (RubyGems): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.1
- activerecord (RubyGems): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.1

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-2010-3933/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3933/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-3933
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-3933
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-3933

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-3933/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.