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Fencer Intel
high 8.1

CVE-2019-16255 json

Ruby through 2.4.7, 2.5.x through 2.5.6, and 2.6.x through 2.6.4 allows code injection if the first argument (aka the "command" argument) t…

published 6y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2019-7061

cvss
8.1
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
4.2%
EPSS 4.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 90%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Ruby through 2.4.7, 2.5.x through 2.5.6, and 2.6.x through 2.6.4 allows code injection if the first argument (aka the "command" argument) to Shell#[] or Shell#test in lib/shell.rb is untrusted data. An attacker can exploit this to call an arbitrary Ruby method.

Patch / fix

  • jruby Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 9.3.9.0+ds-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-16255

  • ruby2.3 Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 2.3.1-2~ubuntu16.04.14
  • ruby2.5 Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 2.5.1-1ubuntu1.6
  • jruby Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS 1.5.6-9+deb8u2build0.14.04.1~esm2

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2019-16255

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

  • rubygem-pg RHEL 8, RHEL 8.2 EUS, RHEL 8.1 E4S 1.1.4-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0
  • rubygem-abrt RHEL 8, RHEL 8.2 EUS, RHEL 8.1 E4S 0.3.0-4.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0
  • rubygem-bson RHEL 8, RHEL 8.2 EUS, RHEL 8.1 E4S 4.5.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0
  • rubygem-mongo RHEL 8, RHEL 8.2 EUS, RHEL 8.1 E4S 2.8.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0
  • ruby RHEL 8 2.6.7-107.module+el8.4.0+10830+bbd85cce
  • rubygems RHEL 8 3.0.3.1-107.module+el8.4.0+10830+bbd85cce
  • ruby-libs RHEL 8 2.6.7-107.module+el8.4.0+10830+bbd85cce
  • rubygem-irb RHEL 8 1.0.0-107.module+el8.4.0+10830+bbd85cce

red hat advisories RHSA-2022:0582RHSA-2022:0581RHSA-2021:2588RHSA-2021:2587RHSA-2021:2230RHSA-2021:2104

  • ruby2.1 SLES for SAP 12 SP5, SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES for SAP 12 SP3 +14 more 2.1.9-19.3.2
  • yast2-ruby-bindings SLES for SAP 12 SP2, SLES 12 SP2-LTSS, SLES 12 SP2-BCL +1 more 3.1.53-9.8.1
  • ruby2.5 SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 +2 more 2.5.7-4.8.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:1570-1SUSE-SU-2020:0737-1

  • ruby2.5 openSUSE Leap 15.1 2.5.7-lp151.4.6.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2020:0395-1

  • rubygem-pg AlmaLinux 8 1.1.4-1.module_el8.5.0+250+ba22dbf7
  • rubygem-pg AlmaLinux 8 1.1.4-1.module_el8.5.0+2623+08a8ba32
  • rubygem-abrt AlmaLinux 8 0.3.0-4.module_el8.5.0+259+8cec6917
  • rubygem-abrt AlmaLinux 8 0.3.0-4.module_el8.5.0+2623+08a8ba32
  • rubygem-bson AlmaLinux 8 4.5.0-1.module_el8.5.0+2623+08a8ba32
  • rubygem-bson AlmaLinux 8 4.5.0-1.module_el8.5.0+250+ba22dbf7
  • rubygem-mongo AlmaLinux 8 2.8.0-1.module_el8.5.0+250+ba22dbf7
  • rubygem-mongo AlmaLinux 8 2.8.0-1.module_el8.5.0+2623+08a8ba32

almalinux advisories ALSA-2021:2588ALSA-2021:2587

  • ruby Rocky Linux 8 2.6.7-107.module+el8.4.0+593+8d7f9f0c
  • rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 8 1.1.4-1.module+el8.5.0+738+032c9c02
  • rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 8 1.1.4-1.module+el8.4.0+446+80b53620
  • rubygem-pg Rocky Linux 8 1.1.4-1.module+el8.4.0+593+8d7f9f0c
  • rubygem-abrt Rocky Linux 8 0.3.0-4.module+el8.5.0+738+032c9c02
  • rubygem-abrt Rocky Linux 8 0.3.0-4.module+el8.3.0+167+5c390590
  • rubygem-abrt Rocky Linux 8 0.3.0-4.module+el8.4.0+592+03ff458a
  • rubygem-bson Rocky Linux 8 4.5.0-1.module+el8.4.0+593+8d7f9f0c

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2021:2588RLSA-2021:2587

  • ruby Alpine 3.10, Alpine 3.9, Alpine 3.8 2.5.7-r0
  • ruby Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +11 more 2.6.5-r0
  • ruby Alpine 3.7 2.4.10-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2019-16255

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • ruby Arch Linux 2.6.5-1

arch linux advisories AVG-1039

Is CVE-2019-16255 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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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-2019-16255 updated cvss 8.1

ruby: Code injection via command argument of Shell#test / Shell#[]

  • Red Hat 3scale API Management Platform 2 3amp-system 3amp-system
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 ruby Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 ruby, ruby-ri, ruby-irb, ruby-libs, ruby-rdoc, ruby-tcltk
    affected: no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 ruby, ruby-irb, rubygems, ruby-libs, ruby-tcltk, rubygem-json, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections rh-ruby24-ruby, rh-ruby24-ruby-irb, rh-ruby24-rubygems, rh-ruby24-ruby-libs, rh-ruby24-rubygem-json, rh-ruby24-rubygem-rake, +11 more
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) ruby 2.5.9-107.module+el8.4.0+10822+fe4fffb1, ruby 2.6.7-107.module+el8.4.0+10830+bbd85cce, rubygem-pg 1.0.0-2.module+el8.1.0+3656+f80bfa1d, rubygem-pg 1.1.4-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, ruby-irb 2.5.9-107.module+el8.4.0+10822+fe4fffb1, ruby-libs 2.5.9-107.module+el8.4.0+10822+fe4fffb1, +40 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:2587
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream E4S (v. 8.1) ruby 2.6.9-107.module+el8.1.0+14088+04cf326e, rubygem-pg 1.1.4-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, ruby-libs 2.6.9-107.module+el8.1.0+14088+04cf326e, rubygem-abrt 0.3.0-4.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, rubygem-bson 4.5.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, rubygem-mongo 2.8.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, +17 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:0581
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) ruby 2.6.9-107.module+el8.2.0+14086+86d863af, rubygem-pg 1.1.4-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, ruby-libs 2.6.9-107.module+el8.2.0+14086+86d863af, rubygem-abrt 0.3.0-4.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, rubygem-bson 4.5.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, rubygem-mongo 2.8.0-1.module+el8.1.0+3653+beb38eb0, +17 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:0582
  • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-ruby25-ruby 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby 2.6.7-119.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-irb 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-libs 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygems 2.7.6.3-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby-libs 2.6.7-119.el7, +29 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.6) rh-ruby25-ruby 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-irb 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-libs 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygems 2.7.6.3-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygem-json 2.1.0-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygem-psych 3.0.2-9.el7, +11 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7) rh-ruby25-ruby 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby 2.6.7-119.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-irb 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-libs 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygems 2.7.6.3-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby-libs 2.6.7-119.el7, +29 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-ruby25-ruby 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby 2.6.7-119.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-irb 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-ruby-libs 2.5.9-9.el7, rh-ruby25-rubygems 2.7.6.3-9.el7, rh-ruby26-ruby-libs 2.6.7-119.el7, +29 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:2104

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

Exploit prediction

4.19% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 90% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • hackerone.com https://hackerone.com/reports/327512 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 6.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code

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.