CVE-2017-0903 RubyGems vulnerable to Deserialization of Untrusted Data

What is CVE-2017-0903?

CVE-2017-0903 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 11 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

RubyGems versions between 2.0.0 and 2.6.13 are vulnerable to a possible remote code execution vulnerability. YAML deserialization of gem specifications can bypass class white lists. Specially crafted serialized objects can possibly be used to escalate to remote code execution.

Weakness: CWE-502

Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-0903?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including rubygems-update. It affects 9 products.

Products include Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus and 3 more.

How do I fix CVE-2017-0903?

Upgrade rubygems-update to 2.6.14 or later.

Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.

Is CVE-2017-0903 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-0903 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

• CVE-2020-11651 SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2020-7247 OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2019-16928 Exim Out-of-bounds Write Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2018-6789 Exim Buffer Overflow Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2015-2590 Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8

All Canonical Ubuntu Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2017-0903, GHSA-mqwr-4qf2-2hcv, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-0903, USN-3685-2.