# CVE-2017-11465: Memory corruption in n/a

> Attackers can cause denial of service or bypass security protections via crafted Ruby scripts exploiting memory corruption in the UTF-8 parser.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Jul 2017
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6f39-fvhf-c6qr

## What is CVE-2017-11465?

CVE-2017-11465 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Ruby-Lang Ruby, published on 19 Jul 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The parser_yyerror function in the UTF-8 parser in Ruby 2.4.1 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (invalid write or read) or possibly have unspecified other impact via a crafted Ruby script, related to the parser_tokadd_utf8 function in parse.y. NOTE: this might have security relevance as a bypass of a $SAFE protection mechanism.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-11465?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ruby-Lang Ruby.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-11465?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-11465 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-11465 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-11465 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-2016-2336](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2336/): Memory corruption in Ruby (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-11465 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-11465 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Ruby-Lang Ruby, published on 19 Jul 2017. 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-2017-11465 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-2017-11465/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11465/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-11465
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-11465
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-11465

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11465/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.