Summary
Publify Vulnerable To Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Via Redirects Requiring User Interaction
A publisher on a publify application is able to perform a cross-site scripting attack on an administrator using the redirect functionality.
Details
A publisher on a publify application is able to perform a cross-site scripting attack on an administrator using the redirect functionality. The exploitation of this XSS vulnerability requires the administrator to click a malicious link.
We can create a redirect to a javascript:alert() URL. Whilst the redirect itself doesn't work, on the administrative panel, an a tag is created with the payload as the URI. Upon clicking this link, the XSS is triggered.
An attack could attempt to hide their payload by using HTML, or other encodings, as to not make it obvious to an administrator that this is a malicious link.
PoC
A publisher can create a new redirect as shown below. The payload used is javascript:alert().
An administrator will now see this redirect in their overview of the page.
If they click the link on the right, it triggers the XSS.
Impact
A publisher may attempt to use this vulnerability to escalate their privileges and become an administrator.
Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session. Typical impact: session or credential theft, and actions taken as the user.
Affected versions
Security releases
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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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-39311? CVE-2024-39311 is a low-severity cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in publify_core (rubygems), affecting versions < 10.0.2. It is fixed in 10.0.2. Untrusted input is rendered as active markup in a victim's browser, which can run script in their session.
- Which versions of publify_core are affected by CVE-2024-39311? publify_core (rubygems) versions < 10.0.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-39311? Yes. CVE-2024-39311 is fixed in 10.0.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-39311 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-39311 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-2024-39311 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-2024-39311? Upgrade
publify_coreto 10.0.2 or later.