CVE-2022-39281

Fat Free CRM vulnerable to Remote Denial of Service via Tasks endpoint

Releases

Fixed versions: 0.20.1 and above

Credits

Thanks to @p- for reporting this and working with us to responsibly disclose this vulnerability.

Further information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please Open an issue in GitHub Issue Tracker

An authenticated user can perform a remote Denial of Service attack against Fat Free CRM.

This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier: CVE-2022-39281

Affected versions: All
Not affected: None
Fixed versions: 0.20.1

All users running an affected release should either upgrade or apply the patch immediately.

The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths. Typical impact: varies by context: data corruption, logic bypass, or denial of service.

CVE-2022-39281 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, low 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 (0.20.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

If you are unable to upgrade immediately, you should apply the following patch.

diff --git a/app/models/polymorphic/task.rb b/app/models/polymorphic/task.rb
index d3d5c32c..7cdb24d6 100644
--- a/app/models/polymorphic/task.rb
+++ b/app/models/polymorphic/task.rb
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ class Task < ActiveRecord::Base
   #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
   def self.bucket_empty?(bucket, user, view = "pending")
     return false if bucket.blank? || !ALLOWED_VIEWS.include?(view)
+    return false unless Setting.task_bucket.map(&:to_s).include?(bucket.to_s)

     if view == "assigned"
       assigned_by(user).send(bucket).pending.count

1. What is CVE-2022-39281? CVE-2022-39281 is a medium-severity improper input validation vulnerability in fat_free_crm (rubygems), affecting versions < 0.20.1. It is fixed in 0.20.1. The application does not adequately validate input before processing it, allowing unexpected values to reach sensitive code paths.
2. How severe is CVE-2022-39281? CVE-2022-39281 has a CVSS score of 6.5 (Medium). 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 fat_free_crm are affected by CVE-2022-39281? fat_free_crm (rubygems) versions < 0.20.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2022-39281? Yes. CVE-2022-39281 is fixed in 0.20.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2022-39281 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-39281 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-2022-39281 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-2022-39281? Upgrade fat_free_crm to 0.20.1 or later.

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