CVE-2024-41946 | REXML DoS vulnerability

REXML is an XML toolkit for Ruby. The REXML gem 3.3.2 has a DoS vulnerability when it parses an XML that has many entity expansions with SAX2 or pull parser API. The REXML gem 3.3.3 or later include the patch to fix the vulnerability.

Published: 2024-08-01 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-41946 is rated Moderate Risk (44.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.19%). Review affected assets and schedule 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-2024-41946

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 0.66% 1.19% +0.53%
2 2026-03-04 0.34% 0.66% +0.32%
3 2026-03-01 — 0.34% —

Full EPSS history (55 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-41946

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 3.9 1.4 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-41946

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-41946

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-41946

vendor priority summary link
alpine medium CVE-2024-41946: 1 source package rows (ruby-rexml); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 5, open 2. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-41946
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-41946 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 3 source packages (ruby2.7, ruby3.1, ruby3.3), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-41946
gentoo normal CVE-2024-41946: 1 GLSA(s) (202507-08), 1 atom(s) (dev-ruby/rexml); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2024-41946
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-41946
suse medium CVE-2024-41946 severity moderate: SUSE including 323 source package names (2.19-54.2:libruby2_5-2_5-2.5.9-150000.4.32.1, 2.19-54.2:ruby2.5-2.5.9-150000.4.32.1, …), 946 product×package rows across 195 product lines (Container bci/ruby, Container suse/rmt-server, … (195 product lines)): Fixed 619, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 96. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-41946/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-41946 medium priority: Ubuntu including 7 source packages (jruby, ruby2.3, …), 54 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 31, needs-triage 13, released 8, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-41946

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-41946

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ruby-lang rexml < 3.3.3 cpe:2.3:a:ruby-lang:rexml:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*

References for CVE-2024-41946

cvelogic Threat Intelligence