What is CVE-2022-39224?

CVE-2022-39224 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in arr-pm (rubygems), affecting versions < 0.0.12. It is fixed in 0.0.12. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.

How severe is CVE-2022-39224?

CVE-2022-39224 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (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.

Which versions of arr-pm are affected by CVE-2022-39224?

arr-pm (rubygems) versions < 0.0.12 is affected.

Is there a fix for CVE-2022-39224?

Yes. CVE-2022-39224 is fixed in 0.0.12. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2022-39224 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2022-39224 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.

What actually determines whether CVE-2022-39224 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.

How do I fix CVE-2022-39224?

Upgrade arr-pm to 0.0.12 or later.

CVE-2022-39224 in arr-pm

Q: How severe is CVE-2022-39224?

CVE-2022-39224 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (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.

Q: Which versions of arr-pm are affected by CVE-2022-39224?

arr-pm (rubygems) versions < 0.0.12 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2022-39224?

Yes. CVE-2022-39224 is fixed in 0.0.12. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2022-39224 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2022-39224 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.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2022-39224 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.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2022-39224?

Upgrade arr-pm to 0.0.12 or later.

Summary

arr-pm vulnerable to arbitrary shell execution when extracting or listing files contained in a malicious rpm.

Workarounds

When using an affected version of this library (arr-pm), ensure any RPMs being processed contain valid/known payload compressor values. Such values include: gzip, bzip2, xz, zstd, and lzma.

You can check the payload compressor field in an rpm by using the rpm command line tool. For example:

% rpm -qp example-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm --qf "%{PAYLOADCOMPRESSOR}\n"
gzip

Impact on known dependent projects

This library is used by fpm. The vulnerability may impact fpm only when using the flag -s rpm or --input-type rpm to convert a malicious rpm to another format. It does not impact creating rpms.

References

Credit

Thanks to @joernchen for reporting this problem and contributing to the resolution :)

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in the arr-pm issue tracker

Impact

Arbitrary shell execution is possible when using RPM::File#files and RPM::File#extract if the RPM contains a malicious "payload compressor" field.

This vulnerability impacts the extract and files methods of the RPM::File class in the affected versions of this library.

Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host. Typical impact: code execution in the application's environment.

CVE-2022-39224 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (High). The vector is requires local access, no privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (0.0.12); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

arr-pm (< 0.0.12)

Security releases

arr-pm → 0.0.12 (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

Version 0.0.12 is available with a fix for these issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-39224? CVE-2022-39224 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in arr-pm (rubygems), affecting versions < 0.0.12. It is fixed in 0.0.12. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
How severe is CVE-2022-39224? CVE-2022-39224 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (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.
Which versions of arr-pm are affected by CVE-2022-39224? arr-pm (rubygems) versions < 0.0.12 is affected.
Is there a fix for CVE-2022-39224? Yes. CVE-2022-39224 is fixed in 0.0.12. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2022-39224 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-39224 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
What actually determines whether CVE-2022-39224 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.
How do I fix CVE-2022-39224? Upgrade arr-pm to 0.0.12 or later.