# CVE-2014-9490: sentry-raven allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a large exponent value in a scientific number

> Remote attackers can cause denial of service in the raven-ruby gem by sending a large exponent value in a scientific number.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Jan 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c9c5-9fpr-m882

## What is CVE-2014-9490?

CVE-2014-9490 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Jan 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The numtok function in lib/raven/okjson.rb in the raven-ruby gem before 0.12.2 for Ruby allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a large exponent value in a scientific number.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-9490?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including sentry-raven. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sentry-raven` | RubyGems | All versions | 0.12.2 |
| `sentry-raven` | RubyGems | All versions | 0.12.2 |

Products: Getsentry Raven-Ruby.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-9490?

Upgrade sentry-raven to 0.12.2 or later.

## Is CVE-2014-9490 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-9490 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-9490 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-9490 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 20 Jan 2015. 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-2014-9490 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- sentry-raven (RubyGems): affected all versions; fixed in 0.12.2
- sentry-raven (RubyGems): affected all versions; fixed in 0.12.2

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-2014-9490/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9490/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-9490
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9490
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-9490

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9490/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.