CVE-2017-0898
Ruby before 2.4.2, 2.3.5, and 2.2.8 is vulnerable to a malicious format string which contains a precious specifier (*) with a huge minus value.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (9.72%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
Ruby before 2.4.2, 2.3.5, and 2.2.8 is vulnerable to a malicious format string which contains a precious specifier (*) with a huge minus value. Such situation can lead to a buffer overrun, resulting in a heap memory corruption or an information disclosure from the heap.
- CVSS 3.0
- 9.1 CRITICALCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
- EPSS
- 9.72% probability · 95th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-134
- Affected
- ruby-lang/ruby
- Source
- support@hackerone.com
EPSS 9.7% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/100862Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039363Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:3485
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0378
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0583
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0585
- https://github.com/mruby/mruby/issues/3722Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://hackerone.com/reports/212241Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00012.html
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201710-18
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3685-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-4031
- https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2017/09/14/sprintf-buffer-underrun-cve-2017-0898/Vendor Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/100862Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1039363Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:3485
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0378
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0583
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0585
- https://github.com/mruby/mruby/issues/3722Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://hackerone.com/reports/212241Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/07/msg00012.html
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201710-18
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3685-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-4031
- https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2017/09/14/sprintf-buffer-underrun-cve-2017-0898/Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.