CVE-2019-5419

CVE-2019-5419 is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in actionview (rubygems), affecting versions >= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.6.1. It is fixed in 5.1.6.2, 5.0.7.2, 4.2.11.1, 5.2.2.1, 6.0.0.beta3.

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Runtime intelligence, not another scanner.

Summary

Denial of Service Vulnerability in Action View

Denial of Service Vulnerability in Action View

Impact

Specially crafted accept headers can cause the Action View template location code to consume 100% CPU, causing the server unable to process requests. This impacts all Rails applications that render views.

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

Releases

The 6.0.0.beta3, 5.2.2.1, 5.1.6.2, 5.0.7.2, and 4.2.11.1 releases are available at the normal locations.

Workarounds

This vulnerability can be mitigated by wrapping render calls with respond_to blocks. For example, the following example is vulnerable:

class UserController < ApplicationController 
  def index 
    render "index" 
  end 
end 

But the following code is not vulnerable:

class UserController < ApplicationController 
  def index 
    respond_to |format| 
      format.html { render "index" } 
    end 
  end 
end 

Implicit rendering is impacted, so this code is vulnerable:

class UserController < ApplicationController 
  def index 
  end 
end 

But can be changed this this:

class UserController < ApplicationController 
  def index 
    respond_to |format| 
      format.html { render "index" } 
    end 
  end 
end 

Alternatively to specifying the format, the following monkey patch can be applied in an initializer:

$ cat config/initializers/formats_filter.rb 
# frozen_string_literal: true 

ActionDispatch::Request.prepend(Module.new do 
  def formats 
    super().select do |format| 
      format.symbol || format.ref == "*/*" 
    end 
  end 
end) 

Please note that only the 5.2.x, 5.1.x, 5.0.x, and 4.2.x series are supported at present. Users of earlier unsupported releases are advised to upgrade as soon as possible as we cannot guarantee the continued availability of security fixes for unsupported releases.

Also note that the patches for this vulnerability are the same as CVE-2019-5418.

Credits

Thanks to John Hawthorn [email protected] of GitHub

Impact

Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service. Typical impact: denial of service.

CVE-2019-5419 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (5.1.6.2, 5.0.7.2, 4.2.11.1, 5.2.2.1, 6.0.0.beta3); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

actionview (>= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.6.1) actionview (>= 5.0.0, <= 5.0.7.1) actionview (>= 4.0.0, <= 4.2.11.0) actionview (>= 5.2.0, <= 5.2.2.0) actionview (>= 6.0.0.beta1, < 6.0.0.beta3)

Security releases

actionview → 5.1.6.2 (rubygems) actionview → 5.0.7.2 (rubygems) actionview → 4.2.11.1 (rubygems) actionview → 5.2.2.1 (rubygems) actionview → 6.0.0.beta3 (rubygems)

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

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Remediation advice

Upgrade the following packages to resolve this vulnerability:

actionview to 5.1.6.2 or later; actionview to 5.0.7.2 or later; actionview to 4.2.11.1 or later; actionview to 5.2.2.1 or later; actionview to 6.0.0.beta3 or later

Kodem Kai can prioritize this vulnerability in your dependency tree and generate a fix recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What is CVE-2019-5419? CVE-2019-5419 is a high-severity uncontrolled resource consumption vulnerability in actionview (rubygems), affecting versions >= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.6.1. It is fixed in 5.1.6.2, 5.0.7.2, 4.2.11.1, 5.2.2.1, 6.0.0.beta3. Crafted input forces the application to consume excessive CPU, memory, or other resources, degrading or denying service.
  2. How severe is CVE-2019-5419? CVE-2019-5419 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
  3. Which versions of actionview are affected by CVE-2019-5419? actionview (rubygems) versions >= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.6.1 is affected.
  4. Is there a fix for CVE-2019-5419? Yes. CVE-2019-5419 is fixed in 5.1.6.2, 5.0.7.2, 4.2.11.1, 5.2.2.1, 6.0.0.beta3. Upgrade to this version or later.
  5. Is CVE-2019-5419 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2019-5419 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
  6. What actually determines whether CVE-2019-5419 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
  7. How do I fix CVE-2019-5419?
    • Upgrade actionview to 5.1.6.2 or later
    • Upgrade actionview to 5.0.7.2 or later
    • Upgrade actionview to 4.2.11.1 or later
    • Upgrade actionview to 5.2.2.1 or later
    • Upgrade actionview to 6.0.0.beta3 or later

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