CVE-2026-34786 | Rack: Rack::Static header_rules bypass via URL-encoded paths

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to versions 2.2.23, 3.1.21, and 3.2.6, Rack::Static#applicable_rules evaluates several header_rules types against the raw URL-encoded PATH_INFO, while the underlying file-serving path is decoded before the file is served. As a result, a request for a URL-encoded variant of a static path can serve the same file without the headers that header_rules were intended to apply. In deployments that rely on Rack::Static to attach security-relevant response headers to static content, this can allow an attacker to bypass those headers by requesting an encoded form of the path. This issue has been patched in versions 2.2.23, 3.1.21, and 3.2.6.

Published: 2026-04-02 Last update: 2026-04-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-34786 is rated Low Risk (24.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.03%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2026-34786

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 2026-04-03 0.03%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-34786

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:L/A:N 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:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-34786

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-34786

GHSA-q4qf-9j86-f5mh · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rubygems — Rack:: Static header_rules bypass via URL-encoded paths

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-34786

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-34786 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (ruby-rack), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-34786
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-34786
suse medium CVE-2026-34786 severity moderate: SUSE including 2 source package names (hawk2, ruby4.0-rubygem-rack-2.2-2.2.23-1.1), 7 product×package rows across 7 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 SP5, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP4, … (7 product lines)): Known Not Affected 6, Fixed 1. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-34786/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-34786 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (ruby-rack), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, ignored 2, needed 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-34786

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-34786

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
rack rack < 2.2.23 cpe:2.3:a:rack:rack:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*
rack rack >= 3.0.0, < 3.1.21 cpe:2.3:a:rack:rack:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*
rack rack >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.6 cpe:2.3:a:rack:rack:*:*:*:*:*:ruby:*:*

References for CVE-2026-34786

cvelogic Threat Intelligence