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HIGH

CVE-2019-8320

CVSS v3

7.4

HIGH

EPSS Score

4.2 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-19

CISA KEV

No

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • rubygems-updateRubyGemsfrom 3.0.0 · fixed in 3.0.3

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2019-8320 Red Hat Product Security523 products fixed · 20 known affected

    rubygems: Delete directory using symlink when decompressing tar

    rh-ruby23-ruby as a component of Red Hat Software Collections · rh-ruby23-ruby-devel as a component of Red Hat Software Collections · rh-ruby23-ruby-doc as a component of Red Hat Software Collections

  • RHBA-2019:3384 Red Hat Product Security144 products fixed

    Red Hat Bug Fix Advisory: ruby:2.5 bug fix and enhancement update

  • RHSA-2019:1429 Red Hat Product Security34 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: CloudForms 4.7.5 security, bug fix and enhancement update

  • RHSA-2019:1150 Red Hat Product Security154 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: rh-ruby24-ruby security, bug fix, and enhancement update

  • RHSA-2019:1148 Red Hat Product Security191 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: rh-ruby25-ruby security, bug fix, and enhancement update

Full record on NVD

Description

A Directory Traversal issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.7.6 and later through 3.0.2. Before making new directories or touching files (which now include path-checking code for symlinks), it would delete the target destination. If that destination was hidden behind a symlink, a malicious gem could delete arbitrary files on the user's machine, presuming the attacker could guess at paths. Given how frequently gem is run as sudo, and how predictable paths are on modern systems (/tmp, /usr, etc.), this could likely lead to data loss or an unusable system.

Technical details

Published
2019-06-06

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-8320?

A Directory Traversal issue was discovered in RubyGems 2.7.6 and later through 3.0.2. Before making new directories or touching files (which now include path-checking code for symlinks), it would delete the target destination. If that destination was hidden behind a symlink, a malicious gem could delete arbitrary files on the user's machine, presuming the attacker could guess at paths. Given how frequently gem is run as sudo, and how predictable paths are on modern systems (/tmp, /usr, etc.), this could likely lead to data loss or an unusable system.

Is CVE-2019-8320 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2019-8320 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 4.2% on 2026-10-19, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2019-8320?

CVE-2019-8320 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.4 (HIGH severity).

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