Description
ext/common/ServerInstanceDir.h in Phusion Passenger gem before 4.0.6 for Ruby allows local users to gain privileges or possibly change the ownership of arbitrary directories via a symlink attack on a directory with a predictable name in /tmp/.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | passenger | 3.0.13debian-1.2 | — |
| Debian 13 | passenger | 3.0.13debian-1.2 | — |
| Debian 12 | passenger | 3.0.13debian-1.2 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift 1 | mod_passenger +11 | 3.0.21-3.el6op | RHSA-2013:1136 |
| Red Hat OpenShift 1 | rubygem-file-tail +1 | 1.0.5-4.el6op | RHSA-2013:1136 |
| Red Hat OpenShift 1 | rubygem-spruz +1 | 0.2.5-4.el6op | RHSA-2013:1136 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSE WebYast 1.3 | rubygem-passenger | 3.0.14-0.14.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:0042-1 |
| SUSE Studio Onsite 1.3 | rubygem-passenger | 3.0.14-0.14.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:0042-1 |
| SUSE Lifecycle Management Server 1.3 | rubygem-passenger | 3.0.14-0.14.1 | SUSE-SU-2016:0042-1 |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RubyGems | passenger | < 4.0.6 | 4.0.6 | GHSA-w6rc-q387-vpgq |
Advisories 2
- RHSA-2013:1136 Red Hat Security Advisory: rubygem-passenger security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2016:0042-1 Security update for rubygem-passenger SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- https://github.com/phusion/passenger/blob/release-4.0.6/NEWS
- https://code.google.com/p/phusion-passenger/issues/detail?id=910
- https://github.com/phusion/passenger/commit/5483b3292cc2af1c83033eaaadec20dba4dcfd9b
- RHSA-2013:1136 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20130716 Re: Re: Insecure temp files usage in phusion passenger (other than CVE-2013-2119) mailing-list