CVE-2026-126085: Active Storage: Possible circumvention of file size limits in Active Storage direct uploads to Google Cloud Storage
Impact ActiveStorage::Service::GCSService#urlfordirectupload does not bind the declared content length into the signed direct-upload URL, and #headersfordirectupload returns no length constraint, so the URL authorizes an upload body of any size. A direct-upload client could store a file larger than the bytesize it declared, and the resulting blob keeps the declared size, possibly bypassing application file size validations and quotas. This is the weakness that CVE-2020-8162 fixed in the S3 service.
Applications that store files in Google Cloud Storage and accept direct uploads are affected.
Details The fixed releases sign an x-goog-content-length-range header that matches the blob's declared bytesize and return it from headersfordirectupload, so Cloud Storage rejects an upload body of any other size. Browsers send this header with the direct upload, so a bucket's CORS configuration must list x-goog-content-length-range in responseHeader, or browser direct uploads fail after the upgrade. The Active Storage CHANGELOG and the CORS example in the Active Storage guide show the change.
Releases The fixed releases are available at the normal locations.
Patches for those who cannot upgrade at once: - 8.1: https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/e19916cea31cbfb0030b165ae853b741f8dd57a7.patch - 8.0: https://github.com/rails/rails/commit/7fe85a72a789eae5ee070ce3ee1dad10a8a5f70c.patch
Credit This issue was responsibly reported by HackerOne researcher f4cts.
Other sources
Active Storage makes it simple to upload and reference files in cloud services and attach those files to Active Record objects. Prior to 8.1.4.1 and 8.0.5.2, ActiveStorage::Service::GCSService#urlfordirectupload does not bind the declared content length into the signed direct-upload URL, and #headersfordirectupload returns no length constraint, so the URL authorizes an upload body of any size. A direct-upload client could store a file larger than the bytesize it declared, and the resulting blob keeps the declared size, possibly bypassing application file size validations and quotas. This is the weakness that CVE-2020-8162 fixed in the S3 service. Applications that store files in Google Cloud Storage and accept direct uploads are affected. This issue is fixed in versions 8.1.4.1 and 8.0.5.2.
— MITRE
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
rubygems/activestorageto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.0.5.2 - Upgrade
Upgrade
rubygems/activestorageto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.1.4.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
rails/railsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.1.4.1 - Upgrade
Upgrade
rails/railsto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 8.0.5.2 - Configuration
Add x-goog-content-length-range to the bucket CORS responseHeader list so browser direct uploads continue to work after upgrading.
Google Cloud Storage bucket CORS configuration responseHeader = x-goog-content-length-range