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Fencer Intel
medium 6.8

CVE-2013-4164 json

Heap-based buffer overflow in Ruby 1.8, 1.9 before 1.9.3-p484, 2.0 before 2.0.0-p353, 2.1 before 2.1.0 preview2, and trunk before revision…

published 12y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2013-4089

cvss
6.8
version 2.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
35.0%
EPSS 35.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 98%
public exploits
1
Metasploit

Summary

Heap-based buffer overflow in Ruby 1.8, 1.9 before 1.9.3-p484, 2.0 before 2.0.0-p353, 2.1 before 2.1.0 preview2, and trunk before revision 43780 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a string that is converted to a floating point value, as demonstrated using (1) the to_f method or (2) JSON.parse.

Patch / fix

  • ruby2.0 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 2.0.0.343-1ubuntu1
  • ruby1.9.1 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 1.9.3.448-1ubuntu2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2013-4164

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • cfme cloudforms managementengine 5 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf
  • cfme-lib cloudforms managementengine 5 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf
  • ruby193-ruby RHEL 1 SOFTWARE_COLLECTIONS, openstack 3, cloudforms managementengine 5 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6
  • cfme-appliance cloudforms managementengine 5 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf
  • ruby193-ruby-irb RHEL 1 SOFTWARE_COLLECTIONS, openstack 3, cloudforms managementengine 5 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6
  • ruby193-rubygems RHEL 1 SOFTWARE_COLLECTIONS, cloudforms managementengine 5 1.8.23-40.1.el6
  • mingw32-cfme-host cloudforms managementengine 5 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf
  • ruby193-ruby-libs RHEL 1 SOFTWARE_COLLECTIONS, openstack 3, cloudforms managementengine 5 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2014:0215RHSA-2013:1767RHSA-2014:0011RHSA-2013:1764RHSA-2013:1763

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2013-4164 updated cvss 7.5

ruby: heap overflow in floating point parsing

  • Red Hat CloudForms Management Engine 5 mingw-ruby, mingw32-ruby, mingw64-ruby
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise 1 ruby193-ruby
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 4 ruby193-ruby Red Hat Satellite 6 ruby193-ruby Red Hat Subscription Asset Manager ruby193-ruby
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat Management Engine cfme 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf, cfme-lib 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf, cfme-appliance 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf, ruby193-ruby 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygems 1.8.23-40.1.el6, mingw32-cfme-host 5.2.2.3-1.el6cf, +13 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2014:0215
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node EUS (v. 6.2) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node EUS (v. 6.3) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node Optional EUS (v. 6.2) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node Optional EUS (v. 6.3) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Compute Node Optional EUS (v. 6.4) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1767
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1764
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node EUS (v. 6.4) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1767
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1764
show 8 more
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 3.0 ruby193-ruby 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-irb 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-json 1.5.5-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-libs 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-tcltk 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-rake 0.9.2.2-40.1.el6, +3 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2014:0011
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1764
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.2) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.3) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.4) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1767
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1764
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional EUS (v. 6.2) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_2 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional EUS (v. 6.3) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional EUS (v. 6.4) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6_4
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1767
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-irb 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-libs 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-rdoc 1.8.7.352-13.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) ruby 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-ri 1.8.7.352-13.el6, ruby-tcltk 1.8.7.352-13.el6
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1764
  • Red Hat Software Collections 1 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) ruby193-ruby 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygems 1.8.23-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-irb 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-json 1.5.5-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-rdoc 3.9.5-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-libs 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, +5 more Red Hat Software Collections 1 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) ruby193-ruby 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygems 1.8.23-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-irb 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-json 1.5.5-40.1.el6, ruby193-rubygem-rdoc 3.9.5-40.1.el6, ruby193-ruby-libs 1.9.3.448-40.1.el6, +5 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2013:1763
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 ruby Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ruby Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 ruby, ruby-irb, rubygems, ruby-libs, ruby-tcltk, rubygem-json, +6 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit auxiliary/dos/http/rails_json_float_dos)
  2. Published

Exploit prediction

34.97% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 2.0 6.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-119 Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.