Devise: Open Redirect via Unvalidated `request.referrer` in Timeoutable Session Timeout Handler

Summary

Devise is an authentication solution for Rails based on Warden. In versions 5.0.3 and below, when the Timeoutable module is enabled in Devise, the FailureApp#redirect_url method returns request.referrer — the HTTP Referer header, which is attacker-controllable — without validation for any non-GET request that results in a session timeout. An attacker who hosts a page with an auto-submitting cross-origin form can cause a victim with an expired Devise session to be redirected to an arbitrary external URL. This contrasts with the GET timeout path (which uses server-side attempted_path) and Devise's own store_location_for mechanism (which strips external hosts via extract_path_from_location), both of which are protected; only the non-GET timeout redirect path is unprotected. Expired-session users can be silently redirected from the trusted app domain to attacker-controlled URLs, enabling phishing and malware delivery while bypassing browser warnings. Note: Rails' built-in open-redirect protection does not mitigate this issue. Devise::FailureApp is an ActionController::Metal app with its own isolated copy of the relevant redirect configuration, so config.action_controller.action_on_open_redirect = :raise (and the older raise_on_open_redirects setting) do not reach it. This issue has been fixed in version 5.0.4.

Timeline

1. May 22, 2026, 7:10 PM UTCCVE published
2. May 26, 2026, 1:09 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. May 26, 2026, 1:10 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• heartcombo devise

  fixed in 5.0.4

• deviseRubyGems

  fixed in 5.0.4

References 2