GHSA-phwj-rprq-35pp CVE-2026-57435
Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when setting an attribute value via `Nokogiri::XML::Attr#value=` or `#content=`
- Severity
- 0.0 / 10
- High · CVSS 4.0
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.46%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 39.88% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Fix
1.19.4- Upgrade nokogiri to this version or later
Description
Summary
Nokogiri’s CRuby native extension could leave a Ruby wrapper pointing to freed memory when replacing the value of an XML attribute. If Ruby code had already accessed an attribute child node, Nokogiri::XML::Attr#value= could free the underlying native child node while the wrapper remained reachable through the document node cache. A later use of the freed child node or a Ruby GC mark could dereference an invalid pointer, causing an invalid read and a possible segfault.
Nokogiri 1.19.4 preserves any already-wrapped attribute child nodes before replacing the attribute value.
JRuby is not affected.
Severity
The Nokogiri maintainers have evaluated this as low severity. Reaching it requires an unusual API-usage pattern that does not arise during normal use. The application must directly access an attribute's child node and then replace that same attribute's value via Attr#value= or #content=. Nokogiri 1.19.4 makes this pattern safe with no change to the public API. Already-wrapped attribute child nodes are preserved before the value is replaced.
Mitigation
Upgrade to Nokogiri 1.19.4 or later.
As a workaround, avoid accessing attribute child nodes directly via Attr#child or similar before mutating the same attribute’s value.
Credit
This issue was responsibly reported by Zheng Yu from depthfirst.com.
Affected versions
RubyGems
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| nokogiri | < 1.19.4 |
1.19.4 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
nokogiri RubyGems → 1.19.4
- bundler
bundle update nokogiri # Gemfile: gem "nokogiri", ">= 1.19.4"
Severity breakdown
CVSS 4.0 0.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- None
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- None
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- Low
- Confidentiality (subsequent systems)
- None
- Integrity (subsequent systems)
- None
- Availability (subsequent systems)
- None
- Exploit maturity
- Unreported
CVSS 3.1 7.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Weakness
CWE-416: Use After Free
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- Implementation: When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
CWE-825: Expired Pointer Dereference
The product dereferences a pointer that contains a location for memory that was previously valid, but is no longer valid.
How to prevent it
- Architecture and Design: Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
- Implementation: When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
References
Packages
Other links
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
Related advisories
| Advisory | Severity | Why it's related |
|---|---|---|
| GHSA-wfpw-mmfh-qq69 Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free in XInclude Processing | Low | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-p67v-3w7g-wjg7 Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when directly using `NokogirI::XML::XPathContext` beyond document lifetime | Medium | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when setting `Document#root=` to an invalid node type | Medium | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-5prr-v3j2-97mh Nokogiri: Possible Out-of-Bounds Read in `Nokogiri::XML::NodeSet#[]` | High | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-9cv2-cfxc-v4v2 Nokogiri: Null Pointer Dereference calling methods on uninitialized wrapper classes | High | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-8678-w3jw-xfc2 Nokogiri: XML::Schema on JRuby allows network requests when NONET is set, bypassing CVE-2020-26247 | Low | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-5v8h-3h3q-446p Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when `Nokogiri::XML::Document#encoding=` raises an exception | High | Also affects nokogiri |
| GHSA-v2fc-qm4h-8hqv Nokogiri XSLT transform has a memory leak | Medium | Also affects nokogiri |
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