There is a possible escalation to RCE when using YAML serialized columns in Active Record. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2022-32224.

Versions Affected: All. Not affected: None Fixed Versions: 7.0.3.1, 6.1.6.1, 6.0.5.1, 5.2.8.1

Impact

When serialized columns that use YAML (the default) are deserialized, Rails uses YAML.unsafe_load to convert the YAML data in to Ruby objects. If an attacker can manipulate data in the database (via means like SQL injection), then it may be possible for the attacker to escalate to an RCE.

Impacted Active Record models will look something like this:

class User < ApplicationRecord
  serialize :options       # Vulnerable: Uses YAML for serialization
  serialize :values, Array # Vulnerable: Uses YAML for serialization
  serialize :values, JSON  # Not vulnerable
end

All users running an affected release should either upgrade or use one of the workarounds immediately.

Releases

The FIXED releases are available at the normal locations.

The released versions change the default YAML deserializer to use YAML.safe_load, which prevents deserialization of possibly dangerous objects. This may introduce backwards compatibility issues with existing data.

In order to cope with that situation, the released version also contains two new Active Record configuration options. The configuration options are as follows:

• config.active_record.use_yaml_unsafe_load

When set to true, this configuration option tells Rails to use the old "unsafe" YAML loading strategy, maintaining the existing behavior but leaving the possible escalation vulnerability in place. Setting this option to true is not recommended, but can aid in upgrading.

• config.active_record.yaml_column_permitted_classes

The "safe YAML" loading method does not allow all classes to be deserialized by default. This option allows you to specify classes deemed "safe" in your application. For example, if your application uses Symbol and Time in serialized data, you can add Symbol and Time to the allowed list as follows:

config.active_record.yaml_column_permitted_classes = [Symbol, Date, Time]

Workarounds

There are no feasible workarounds for this issue, but other coders (such as JSON) are not impacted.

Ruby on Rails 3.0.x before 3.0.19, 3.1.x before 3.1.10, and 3.2.x before 3.2.11 does not properly consider differences in parameter handling between the Active Record component and the JSON implementation, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended database-query restrictions and perform NULL checks or trigger missing WHERE clauses via a crafted request, as demonstrated by certain "[nil]" values, a related issue to CVE-2012-2660 and CVE-2012-2694.

There is a potential denial of service vulnerability present in ActiveRecord’s PostgreSQL adapter.

This has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2022-44566.

Versions Affected: All. Not affected: None. Fixed Versions: 5.2.8.15 (Rails LTS), 6.1.7.1, 7.0.4.1

Impact

In ActiveRecord <7.0.4.1 and <6.1.7.1, when a value outside the range for a 64bit signed integer is provided to the PostgreSQL connection adapter, it will treat the target column type as numeric. Comparing integer values against numeric values can result in a slow sequential scan resulting in potential Denial of Service.

Workarounds

Ensure that user supplied input which is provided to ActiveRecord clauses do not contain integers wider than a signed 64bit representation or floats.

SQL injection vulnerability in activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb in the PostgreSQL adapter for Active Record in Ruby on Rails 2.x and 3.x before 3.2.19 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands by leveraging improper bitstring quoting. It was discovered that Active Record did not properly quote values of the bitstring type attributes when using the PostgreSQL database adapter. A remote attacker could possibly use this flaw to conduct an SQL injection attack against applications using Active Record.

The Active Record component in Ruby on Rails 2.3.x before 2.3.18, 3.1.x before 3.1.12, and 3.2.x before 3.2.13 processes certain queries by converting hash keys to symbols, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted input to a where method. A flaw was found in the way Ruby on Rails handled hashes in certain queries. A remote attacker could use this flaw to perform a denial of service (resource consumption) attack by sending specially crafted queries that would result in the creation of Ruby symbols, which were never garbage collected.

The Active Record component in Ruby on Rails before 3.0.14, 3.1.x before 3.1.6, and 3.2.x before 3.2.6 does not properly implement the passing of request data to a where method in an ActiveRecord class, which allows remote attackers to conduct certain SQL injection attacks via nested query parameters that leverage improper handling of nested hashes, a related issue to CVE-2012-2661.