CVE-2013-0277: Insecure Deserialization in Ruby on Rails

The impact of CVE-2013-0277 is severe. An attacker can craft malicious serialized attributes that, when deserialized by the +serialize+ helper, lead to arbitrary code execution. This means an attacker could gain complete control over the server running the vulnerable Ruby on Rails application. The attack vector involves sending a specially crafted serialized payload to the application, which then processes it without proper validation. Successful exploitation could result in data breaches, system compromise, and potential lateral movement within the network. This vulnerability shares similarities with other deserialization flaws, where improper handling of serialized data can be leveraged for malicious purposes.

1. Published2017-10-24
2. Modified2024-12-03
3. EPSS updated2026-04-02

The primary mitigation for CVE-2013-0277 is to upgrade to Ruby on Rails version 2.3.17 or later. If upgrading immediately is not feasible, consider implementing input validation on serialized data to prevent the processing of potentially malicious payloads. While a direct WAF rule is difficult to implement due to the complexity of YAML, strict input validation and sanitization can help. Review and restrict access to endpoints that handle serialized data. After upgrading, confirm the fix by attempting to deserialize a known malicious payload; it should be rejected.