GHSA-5x32-c9mf-49cc
GitHub Security Advisory
RubyGems Delete directory using symlink when decompressing tar
✓ GitHub Reviewed
HIGH
Has CVE
Advisory Details
A Directory Traversal issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.7.6 and later through 3.0.2. Before making new directories or touching files (which now include path-checking code for symlinks), it would delete the target destination. If that destination was hidden behind a symlink, a malicious gem could delete arbitrary files on the user's machine, presuming the attacker could guess at paths. Given how frequently gem is run as sudo, and how predictable paths are on modern systems (/tmp, /usr, etc.), this could likely lead to data loss or an unusable system.
Affected Packages
RubyGems
rubygems-update
Affected versions:
2.7.6
(fixed in 2.7.9)
RubyGems
rubygems-update
Affected versions:
3.0.0
(fixed in 3.0.3)
Related CVEs
Key Information
7.5
/10
Dataset
Last updated: July 1, 2025 6:26 AM
Data from GitHub Advisory Database. This information is provided for research and educational purposes.