# CVE-2023-49090: CarrierWave has a content-type allowlist bypass vulnerability, possibly leading to XSS

> Attackers can bypass content-type allowlists in CarrierWave to upload malicious files, potentially leading to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 11 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2023-49090, GHSA-gxhx-g4fq-49hj, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-49090

## What is CVE-2023-49090?

CVE-2023-49090 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in carrierwaveuploader carrierwave, published on 29 Nov 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

CarrierWave is a solution for file uploads for Rails, Sinatra and other Ruby web frameworks. CarrierWave has a Content-Type allowlist bypass vulnerability, possibly leading to XSS. The validation in `allowlisted_content_type?` determines Content-Type permissions by performing a partial match. If the `content_type` argument of `allowlisted_content_type?` is passed a value crafted by the attacker, Content-Types not included in the `content_type_allowlist` will be allowed. This issue has been patched in versions 2.2.5 and 3.0.5.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-49090?

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


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `carrierwave` | RubyGems | All versions | 2.2.5 |
| `carrierwave` | RubyGems | All versions | 2.2.5 |
| `carrierwave` | RubyGems | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.5 |
| `carrierwave` | RubyGems | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.5 |

Products: Carrierwave Project Carrierwave.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-49090?

Upgrade carrierwave to a fixed version for your release line: 2.2.5 or 3.0.5.

## Is CVE-2023-49090 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-49090 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in carrierwaveuploader carrierwave

- [CVE-2021-21305](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21305/): Code Injection vulnerability in CarrierWave (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2024-29034](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29034/): CarrierWave's Content-Type allowlist bypass vulnerability which possibly leads to XSS remained (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2026-44587](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-44587/): CarrierWave has a denylisted_content_type bypass via Unescaped Regex Metacharacters (medium 4.7)
- [CVE-2021-21288](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21288/): Server-side request forgery in CarrierWave (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-49090 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-49090 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in carrierwaveuploader carrierwave, published on 29 Nov 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-49090 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- carrierwave (RubyGems): affected all versions; fixed in 2.2.5
- carrierwave (RubyGems): affected all versions; fixed in 2.2.5
- carrierwave (RubyGems): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.5
- carrierwave (RubyGems): affected from 3.0.0; fixed in 3.0.5

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-2023-49090/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49090/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-49090
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-49090
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-49090

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-49090/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.