CVE-2021-41819: Cookie Prefix Spoofing in CGI::Cookie.parse
Posted by mame on 24 Nov 2021
A cookie prefix spoofing vulnerability was discovered in CGI::Cookie.parse. This vulnerability has been assigned the CVE identifier CVE-2021-41819. We strongly recommend upgrading Ruby.
Details
The old versions of CGI::Cookie.parse applied URL decoding to cookie names.
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to spoof security prefixes in cookie names, which may be able to trick a vulnerable application.
By this fix, CGI::Cookie.parse no longer decodes cookie names.
Note that this is an incompatibility if cookie names that you are using include non-alphanumeric characters that are URL-encoded.
This is the same issue of CVE-2020-8184.
If you are using Ruby 2.7 or 3.0:
- Please update the cgi gem to version 0.3.1, 0.2.1, and 0.1.1 or later. You can use
gem update cgito update it. If you are using bundler, please addgem "cgi", ">= 0.3.1"to yourGemfile. - Alternatively, please update Ruby to 2.7.5 or 3.0.3.
If you are using Ruby 2.6:
- Please update Ruby to 2.6.9. You cannot use
gem update cgifor Ruby 2.6 or prior.
Affected versions
- ruby 2.6.8 or prior (You can not use
gem update cgifor this version.) - cgi gem 0.1.0 or prior (which are bundled versions with Ruby 2.7 series prior to Ruby 2.7.5)
- cgi gem 0.2.0 or prior (which are bundled versions with Ruby 3.0 series prior to Ruby 3.0.3)
- cgi gem 0.3.0 or prior
Credits
Thanks to ooooooo_q for discovering this issue.
History
- Originally published at 2021-11-24 12:00:00 (UTC)
Recent News
Ruby 4.0.0 Released
We are pleased to announce the release of Ruby 4.0.0. Ruby 4.0 introduces “Ruby Box” and “ZJIT”, and adds many improvements.
Posted by naruse on 25 Dec 2025
A New Look for Ruby's Documentation
Following the ruby-lang.org redesign, we have more news to celebrate Ruby’s 30th anniversary: docs.ruby-lang.org has a completely new look with Aliki—RDoc’s new default theme.
Posted by Stan Lo on 23 Dec 2025
Redesign our Site Identity
We are excited to announce a comprehensive redesign of our site. The design for this update was created by Taeko Akatsuka.
Posted by Hiroshi SHIBATA on 22 Dec 2025
Ruby 4.0.0 preview3 Released
We are pleased to announce the release of Ruby 4.0.0-preview3. Ruby 4.0 introduces Ruby::Box and “ZJIT”, and adds many improvements.
Posted by naruse on 18 Dec 2025