CVE-2022-29176 | Unauthorized gem takeover for some gems on rubygems.org

Rubygems is a package registry used to supply software for the Ruby language ecosystem. Due to a bug in the yank action, it was possible for any RubyGems.org user to remove and replace certain gems even if that user was not authorized to do so. To be vulnerable, a gem needed: one or more dashes in its name creation within 30 days OR no updates for over 100 days At present, we believe this vulnerability has not been exploited. RubyGems.org sends an email to all gem owners when a gem version is published or yanked. We have not received any support emails from gem owners indicating that their gem has been yanked without authorization. An audit of gem changes for the last 18 months did not find any examples of this vulnerability being used in a malicious way. A deeper audit for any possible use of this exploit is ongoing, and we will update this advisory once it is complete. Using Bundler in --frozen or --deployment mode in CI and during deploys, as the Bundler team has always recommended, will guarantee that your application does not silently switch to versions created using this exploit. To audit your application history for possible past exploits, review your Gemfile.lock and look for gems whose platform changed when the version number did not change. For example, gemname-3.1.2 updating to gemname-3.1.2-java could indicate a possible abuse of this vulnerability. RubyGems.org has been patched and is no longer vulnerable to this issue as of the 5th of May 2022.

Published: 2022-05-05 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-29176 is rated High Risk (66.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.73%). EPSS rose +1.16% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-29176

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.57% 1.73% +1.16%
2 2026-05-25 0.43% 0.57% +0.14%
3 2026-05-22 — 0.43% —

Full EPSS history (39 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-29176

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.9 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.1 6.0 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]
6.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 6.8 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-29176

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-29176

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
rubygems rubygems.org — cpe:2.3:a:rubygems:rubygems.org:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-29176

cvelogic Threat Intelligence