Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. From versions 3.0.0.beta1 to before 3.1.21, and 3.2.0 to before 3.2.6, Rack::Multipart::Parser#handlemimehead parses quoted multipart parameters such as Content-Disposition: form-data; name="..." using repeated String#index searches combined with String#slice! prefix deletion. For escape-heavy quoted values, this causes super-linear processing. An unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted multipart/form-data request containing many parts with long backslash-escaped parameter values to trigger excessive CPU usage during multipart parsing. This results in a denial of service condition in Rack applications that accept multipart form data. This issue has been patched in versions 3.1.21 and 3.2.6.

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to versions 2.2.23, 3.1.21, and 3.2.6, Rack::Multipart::Parser only wraps the request body in a BoundedIO when CONTENTLENGTH is present. When a multipart/form-data request is sent without a Content-Length header, such as with HTTP chunked transfer encoding, multipart parsing continues until end-of-stream with no total size limit. For file parts, the uploaded body is written directly to a temporary file on disk rather than being constrained by the buffered in-memory upload limit. An unauthenticated attacker can therefore stream an arbitrarily large multipart file upload and consume unbounded disk space. This results in a denial of service condition for Rack applications that accept multipart form data. This issue has been patched in versions 2.2.23, 3.1.21, and 3.2.6.

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to versions 2.2.20, 3.1.18, and 3.2.3, Rack::Request#POST reads the entire request body into memory for Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded, calling rack.input.read(nil) without enforcing a length or cap. Large request bodies can therefore be buffered completely into process memory before parsing, leading to denial of service (DoS) through memory exhaustion. Users should upgrade to Rack version 2.2.20, 3.1.18, or 3.2.3, anu of which enforces form parameter limits using queryparser.bytesizelimit, preventing unbounded reads of application/x-www-form-urlencoded bodies. Additionally, enforce strict maximum body size at the proxy or web server layer (e.g., Nginx clientmaxbodysize, Apache LimitRequestBody).

Summary

A possible information disclosure vulnerability existed in Rack::Sendfile when running behind a proxy that supports x-sendfile headers (such as Nginx). Specially crafted headers could cause Rack::Sendfile to miscommunicate with the proxy and trigger unintended internal requests, potentially bypassing proxy-level access restrictions.

Details

When Rack::Sendfile received untrusted x-sendfile-type or x-accel-mapping headers from a client, it would interpret them as proxy configuration directives. This could cause the middleware to send a "redirect" response to the proxy, prompting it to reissue a new internal request that was not subject to the proxy's access controls.

An attacker could exploit this by: 1. Setting a crafted x-sendfile-type: x-accel-redirect header. 2. Setting a crafted x-accel-mapping header. 3. Requesting a path that qualifies for proxy-based acceleration.

Impact

Attackers could bypass proxy-enforced restrictions and access internal endpoints intended to be protected (such as administrative pages). The vulnerability did not allow arbitrary file reads but could expose sensitive application routes.

This issue only affected systems meeting all of the following conditions:

The application used Rack::Sendfile with a proxy that supports x-accel-redirect (e.g., Nginx). The proxy did not always set or remove the x-sendfile-type and x-accel-mapping headers. The application exposed an endpoint that returned a body responding to .topath.

Mitigation

Upgrade to a fixed version of Rack which requires explicit configuration to enable x-accel-redirect:

ruby use Rack::Sendfile, "x-accel-redirect"

Alternatively, configure the proxy to always set or strip the headers (you should be doing this!):

nginx proxysetheader x-sendfile-type x-accel-redirect; proxysetheader x-accel-mapping /var/www/=/files/;

Or in Rails applications, disable sendfile completely:

ruby config.actiondispatch.xsendfileheader = nil

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. In versions prior to 2.2.19, 3.1.17, and 3.2.2, Rack::Multipart::Parser can accumulate unbounded data when a multipart part’s header block never terminates with the required blank line (CRLFCRLF). The parser keeps appending incoming bytes to memory without a size cap, allowing a remote attacker to exhaust memory and cause a denial of service (DoS). Attackers can send incomplete multipart headers to trigger high memory use, leading to process termination (OOM) or severe slowdown. The effect scales with request size limits and concurrency. All applications handling multipart uploads may be affected. Versions 2.2.19, 3.1.17, and 3.2.2 cap per-part header size (e.g., 64 KiB). As a workaround, restrict maximum request sizes at the proxy or web server layer (e.g., Nginx clientmaxbodysize).

Summary

Rack::Multipart::Parser can accumulate unbounded data when a multipart part’s header block never terminates with the required blank line (CRLFCRLF). The parser keeps appending incoming bytes to memory without a size cap, allowing a remote attacker to exhaust memory and cause a denial of service (DoS).

Details

While reading multipart headers, the parser waits for CRLFCRLF using:

ruby @sbuf.scanuntil(/(.?\r\n)\r\n/m)

If the terminator never appears, it continues appending data (@sbuf.concat(content)) indefinitely. There is no limit on accumulated header bytes, so a single malformed part can consume memory proportional to the request body size.

Impact

Attackers can send incomplete multipart headers to trigger high memory use, leading to process termination (OOM) or severe slowdown. The effect scales with request size limits and concurrency. All applications handling multipart uploads may be affected.

Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched Rack version that caps per-part header size (e.g., 64 KiB). Until then, restrict maximum request sizes at the proxy or web server layer (e.g., Nginx clientmaxbodysize).

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. In versions prior to 2.2.19, 3.1.17, and 3.2.2, Rack::Multipart::Parser buffers the entire multipart preamble (bytes before the first boundary) in memory without any size limit. A client can send a large preamble followed by a valid boundary, causing significant memory use and potential process termination due to out-of-memory (OOM) conditions. Remote attackers can trigger large transient memory spikes by including a long preamble in multipart/form-data requests. The impact scales with allowed request sizes and concurrency, potentially causing worker crashes or severe slowdown due to garbage collection. Versions 2.2.19, 3.1.17, and 3.2.2 enforce a preamble size limit (e.g., 16 KiB) or discard preamble data entirely. Workarounds include limiting total request body size at the proxy or web server level and monitoring memory and set per-process limits to prevent OOM conditions.

Summary

Rack::Multipart::Parser stores non-file form fields (parts without a filename) entirely in memory as Ruby String objects. A single large text field in a multipart/form-data request (hundreds of megabytes or more) can consume equivalent process memory, potentially leading to out-of-memory (OOM) conditions and denial of service (DoS).

Details

During multipart parsing, file parts are streamed to temporary files, but non-file parts are buffered into memory:

ruby body = String.new # non-file → in-RAM buffer @mimeparts[mimeindex].body << content

There is no size limit on these in-memory buffers. As a result, any large text field—while technically valid—will be loaded fully into process memory before being added to params.

Impact

Attackers can send large non-file fields to trigger excessive memory usage. Impact scales with request size and concurrency, potentially leading to worker crashes or severe garbage-collection overhead. All Rack applications processing multipart form submissions are affected.

Mitigation

Upgrade: Use a patched version of Rack that enforces a reasonable size cap for non-file fields (e.g., 2 MiB). Workarounds: Restrict maximum request body size at the web-server or proxy layer (e.g., Nginx clientmaxbodysize). Validate and reject unusually large form fields at the application level.

Summary

Rack::Multipart::Parser buffers the entire multipart preamble (bytes before the first boundary) in memory without any size limit. A client can send a large preamble followed by a valid boundary, causing significant memory use and potential process termination due to out-of-memory (OOM) conditions.

Details

While searching for the first boundary, the parser appends incoming data into a shared buffer (@sbuf.concat(content)) and scans for the boundary pattern:

ruby @sbuf.scanuntil(@bodyregex)

If the boundary is not yet found, the parser continues buffering data indefinitely. There is no trimming or size cap on the preamble, allowing attackers to send arbitrary amounts of data before the first boundary.

Impact

Remote attackers can trigger large transient memory spikes by including a long preamble in multipart/form-data requests. The impact scales with allowed request sizes and concurrency, potentially causing worker crashes or severe slowdown due to garbage collection.

Mitigation

Upgrade: Use a patched version of Rack that enforces a preamble size limit (e.g., 16 KiB) or discards preamble data entirely per RFC 2046 § 5.1.1. Workarounds: Limit total request body size at the proxy or web server level. Monitor memory and set per-process limits to prevent OOM conditions.

Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to version 2.2.18, Rack::QueryParser enforces its paramslimit only for parameters separated by &, while still splitting on both & and ;. As a result, attackers could use ; separators to bypass the parameter count limit and submit more parameters than intended. Applications or middleware that directly invoke Rack::QueryParser with its default configuration (no explicit delimiter) could be exposed to increased CPU and memory consumption. This can be abused as a limited denial-of-service vector. This issue has been patched in version 2.2.18.

Summary

Rack::QueryParser in version < 2.2.18 enforces its paramslimit only for parameters separated by &, while still splitting on both & and ;. As a result, attackers could use ; separators to bypass the parameter count limit and submit more parameters than intended.

Details

The issue arises because Rack::QueryParser#checkquerystring counts only & characters when determining the number of parameters, but the default separator regex DEFAULTSEP = /[&;] /n splits on both & and ;. This mismatch means that queries using ; separators were not included in the parameter count, allowing paramslimit to be bypassed.

Other safeguards (bytesizelimit and keyspacelimit) still applied, but did not prevent this particular bypass.

Impact

Applications or middleware that directly invoke Rack::QueryParser with its default configuration (no explicit delimiter) could be exposed to increased CPU and memory consumption. This can be abused as a limited denial-of-service vector.

Rack::Request, the primary entry point for typical Rack applications, uses QueryParser in a safe way and does not appear vulnerable by default. As such, the severity is considered low, with the impact limited to edge cases where QueryParser is used directly.

Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Rack where both & and ; are counted consistently toward paramslimit. If upgrading is not immediately possible, configure QueryParser with an explicit delimiter (e.g., &) to avoid the mismatch. As a general precaution, enforce query string and request size limits at the web server or proxy layer (e.g., Nginx, Apache, or a CDN) to mitigate excessive parsing overhead.

Summary

Rack::QueryParser parses query strings and application/x-www-form-urlencoded bodies into Ruby data structures without imposing any limit on the number of parameters, allowing attackers to send requests with extremely large numbers of parameters.

Details

The vulnerability arises because Rack::QueryParser iterates over each &-separated key-value pair and adds it to a Hash without enforcing an upper bound on the total number of parameters. This allows an attacker to send a single request containing hundreds of thousands (or more) of parameters, which consumes excessive memory and CPU during parsing.

Impact

An attacker can trigger denial of service by sending specifically crafted HTTP requests, which can cause memory exhaustion or pin CPU resources, stalling or crashing the Rack server. This results in full service disruption until the affected worker is restarted.

Mitigation

- Update to a version of Rack that limits the number of parameters parsed, or - Use middleware to enforce a maximum query string size or parameter count, or - Employ a reverse proxy (such as Nginx) to limit request sizes and reject oversized query strings or bodies.

Limiting request body sizes and query string lengths at the web server or CDN level is an effective mitigation.