# CVE-2022-29176: Unauthorized gem takeover for some gems on rubygems.org > Unauthorized users could replace specific Ruby gems, enabling supply chain attacks; RubyGems.org has patched the vulnerability. - **Severity:** Critical 9.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** No - **Published:** 5 May 2022 - **Updated:** 23 Apr 2025 ## What is CVE-2022-29176? CVE-2022-29176 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in rubygems.org, published on 5 May 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022. Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-29176? It affects 1 product. Products: Rubygems Rubygems.org. ## How do I fix CVE-2022-29176? No fix has been published for CVE-2022-29176 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. ## Is CVE-2022-29176 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-29176 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in rubygems.org - [CVE-2022-29218](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29218/): Unauthorized takeover for new versions of some platform-specific gems (high 7.7) - [CVE-2023-40165](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40165/): Unauthorized gem replacement for full names ending in numbers on rubygems.org (high 7.4) - [CVE-2024-21654](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21654/): rubygems.org MFA Bypass through password reset function could allow account takeover (medium 4.8) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2022-29176 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2022-29176 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in rubygems.org, published on 5 May 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-29176 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: rubygems.org. 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-2022-29176/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29176/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-29176 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-29176 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-29176 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-29176/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.