CriticalCVE-2014-0130

    Ruby on Rails Directory Traversal Vulnerability (CVE-2014-0130)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: CVE.org, OSV

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    What is affected, what to do

    Directory traversal vulnerability in actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb in the implicit-render implementation in Ruby on Rails before 3.2.18, 4.0.x before 4.0.5, and 4.1.x before 4.1.1, when certain route globbing configurations are enabled, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted request.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update Ruby on Rails Rails to version 3.2.18, Ruby on Rails Rails to version 4.0.5, Ruby on Rails Rails to version 4.1.1. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • Red Hat Subscription Asset Manager lte *..1.3.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux Server eq 6.0..6.0
    • Ruby on Rails Rails lt *..3.2.18
    • Ruby on Rails Rails lt 4.0.0..4.0.5
    • Ruby on Rails Rails lt 4.1.0..4.1.1
    Fixed in
    • Ruby on Rails Rails 3.2.18
    • Ruby on Rails Rails 4.0.5
    • Ruby on Rails Rails 4.1.1

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    7.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, OSV

    53.7 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.00

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    215.91 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploited
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.5 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.5
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    53.7 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    99.00
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 7 February 2025
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-22

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This flaw is network-reachable without authentication, trivial to exploit and gives full confidentiality impact. It sits among the CVEs most likely to be exploited, because automated scanners have carried it for years. Its KEV value lies in being a stepping stone: attackers pull secret_token or database credentials and pivot to code execution on Rails 3.x or to direct database access. CISA does not flag ransomware use. Typical targets are neglected legacy Rails applications such as internal portals and RHEL 6-era management tools. If no glob route binds :action, real-world risk is negligible. Internet-facing legacy apps with such routes, however, should be treated as critical and remediated within 24 hours.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory: Identify every Ruby on Rails application and its actionpack version (bundle list | grep -E "rails|actionpack" or check Gemfile.lock). Vulnerable versions are everything before 3.2.18, 4.0.x before 4.0.5 and 4.1.x before 4.1.1.
      • Patch: Upgrade to Rails 3.2.18, 4.0.5 or 4.1.1 or later, run bundle update rails and redeploy. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and Subscription Asset Manager 1.3 have vendor fixes available; look up the package versions in the Red Hat advisory.
      • Legacy branches (3.0.x/3.1.x): These receive no upstream fix. Prioritise migration, and until then remove internet exposure or front the application with a reverse proxy that filters traversal sequences.
      • Audit routes: Search config/routes.rb for glob routes that bind :action dynamically, such as get "foo/*action" or match ":controller(/*action)". Only these configurations are exploitable. Remove them or replace them with explicit routes.
      • Rotate secrets if compromise is suspected: If application files may have been read, reissue secret_token/secret_key_base (config/initializers/secret_token.rb, config/secrets.yml), the credentials in config/database.yml and any API keys stored in .env files. On Rails 3.x, a leaked cookie-signing secret enables remote code execution through Marshal deserialisation.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Configuration: Constrain dynamic :action segments, for example constraints: { action: /[a-z0-9_]+/ }. This rejects slashes, dots and traversal payloads in the action name.
      • WAF/reverse proxy: Block request paths containing ../, ..%2f, %2e%2e, ..%5c or double-encoded variants (%252e%252e). ModSecurity CRS rules 930100 and 930110 (path traversal) are a good starting point. For nginx, add if ($request_uri ~* "(\.\.|%2e%2e)") { return 403; }.
      • Endpoint hardening: Run Rails as a dedicated unprivileged user. Make config/*.yml and key files readable only by that user. Where feasible, apply AppArmor or SELinux profiles that deny reads outside app/ and public/.
      • Secrets management: Move credentials off the filesystem into environment variables or a vault so that file disclosure yields less.
      • Network segmentation: Keep internal Rails tools, such as admin portals or asset managers like SAM, reachable only via VPN or ZTNA rather than directly exposed.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Web access logs (nginx/Apache): Look for traversal patterns in request paths that hit Rails routes. SPL: index=web uri_path="*..*" OR uri_path="*%2e%2e*" OR uri_path="*%2f..*" | stats count by src_ip, uri_path, status. A 200 status with a large bytes value suggests successful exploitation.
      • Rails production.log: Watch for lines such as Rendered ../../../etc/passwd, Processing by FooController#..%2F.., or bursts of ActionView::MissingTemplate errors containing path fragments, which indicate scanning. KQL: RailsLogs | where Message has_any ("Rendered /etc", "Rendered ../", "#..").
      • Response content (Zeek/Suricata behind TLS termination): Flag HTTP responses containing root:x:0:0, secret_token, secret_key_base or adapter: postgresql. A Suricata rule shape: alert http any any -> any any (msg:"Rails CVE-2014-0130 file disclosure"; flow:from_server; file_data; content:"root:x:0:0"; sid:...; ).
      • auditd: Monitor reads of /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow or config/database.yml by the Rails user outside of boot. Example: -w /srv/app/config/database.yml -p r -k rails_secret_read, then filter on the app user's auid or uid.
      • Follow-on activity: Watch for anomalous session cookies carrying Marshal payloads after file disclosure, and for child processes such as sh, bash or curl spawned by ruby/puma/unicorn (Sysmon for Linux EID 1 or EDR process tree).

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Directory traversal vulnerability in actionpack/lib/abstract_controller/base.rb in the implicit-render implementation in Ruby on Rails before 3.2.18, 4.0.x before 4.0.5, and 4.1.x before 4.1.1, when certain route globbing configurations are enabled, allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted request.

    Source: NVD (NIST), OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    redhatsubscription_asset_manager
    • ≤ 1.3.0
    • —
    rubyonrailsrails
    • 4.0.0 – < 4.0.5
    • 4.1.0 – < 4.1.1
    • < 3.2.18
    • 4.0.5
    • 4.1.1
    • 3.2.18
    rubygemsactionpack
    • 3.2.9
    • 3.2.7.rc1
    • 3.2.0.rc1
    • 3.2.0.rc2
    • 3.2.7
    • 3.2.15
    • 3.0.7.rc1
    • 3.0.2
    • 3.2.12
    • 3.0.9.rc4
    • 3.0.12.rc1
    • 3.1.0.rc4
    • 3.0.9.rc5
    • 3.0.7
    • 3.0.6.rc2
    • 3.2.17
    • 3.0.8.rc4
    • 3.0.5
    • 3.2.3.rc1
    • 3.0.10
    • 3.1.0.rc5
    • 3.2.10
    • 3.0.4
    • 3.0.14
    • 3.1.0.beta1
    • 4.0.1.rc3
    • 3.2.9.rc3
    • 4.0.1.rc1
    • 3.1.0.rc6
    • 3.2.9.rc1
    • 3.1.2.rc2
    • 4.0.1.rc4
    • 3.2.14.rc2
    • 3.2.16
    • 3.0.12
    • 4.1.0
    • 3.1.2
    • 3.1.0.rc2
    • 3.0.8.rc2
    • 3.2.6
    • 3.2.0
    • 3.2.8
    • 3.2.8.rc1
    • 3.0.15
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    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux_server6.0

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

      Base

      The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-22

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

    • NVD (NIST)vuln/detail/CVE-2014-0130advisory
    • access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2014:0510web
    • access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2014:0816web
    • access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2014:1863web
    • access.redhat.comsecurity/cve/CVE-2014-0130web
    • bugzilla.redhat.comshow_bug.cgi?id=1095105web
    • github.comrubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/actionpack/CVE-2014-0…web
    • groups.google.comforumweb
    • groups.google.com[rubyonrails-security] 20140506 [CVE-2014-0130] Directory Traversal Vulnerability With Certain Route Configurationsweb, Mailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Broken link, Third-party advisory
    • web.archive.orgweb/20140518192004/http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/67244web
    • web.archive.orgweb/20150319054505/http://matasano.com/research/AnatomyOfRailsV…web
    • web.archive.orgweb/20210411041816/https://groups.google.com/forum/message/raw?…web
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2014-0130web, government-resource, US government resource
    • matasano.comresearch/AnatomyOfRailsVuln-CVE-2014-0130.pdfweb, x_refsource_MISC, Broken link, Technical description
    • rhn.redhat.comRHSA-2014:1863web, Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, Third-party advisory
    • securityfocus.com67244Vulnerability database, x_refsource_BID, Broken link, Third-party advisory, Vulnerability database
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