🛡️ CVE-2021-43805 — solidus-core
Description
ReDos vulnerability on guest checkout email validation
Impact
Denial of service vulnerability that could be exploited during a guest checkout. The regular expression used to validate a guest order's email was subject to exponential backtracking through a fragment like a.a..
Before the patch, it can be reproduced in the console like this:
```ruby
irb(main)> Spree::EmailValidator::EMAIL_REGEXP.match "[email protected].@"
processing time: 54.293660s
=> nil
```
To reproduce in the browser, fill in the "Customer Email" field with that fake email address during a guest checkout. Before that, you should open the browser dev tools and change the type attribute for that field from email to text. After entering a fake address and pressing the "Save & Continue" button, the browser will take a long term to perform the request before showing an error message for the invalid address. Eventually, making the email string even longer could lead to the exhaustion of server resources.
Patches
Versions 3.1.4, 3.0.4, and 2.11.13 have been patched to use a different regular expression.
There's an improbable chance that some orders in your system end up having associated an email address that is no longer valid. We've added a task to check precisely that:
```bash
bin/rails solidus:check_orders_with_invalid_email
```
The above will print information for every affected order if any.
Workarounds
If a prompt upgrade is not an option, please, add the following to config/application.rb:
```ruby
config.after_initialize do
Spree::EmailValidator.send(:remove_const, :EMAIL_REGEXP)
Spree::EmailValidator::EMAIL_REGEXP = URI::MailTo::EMAIL_REGEXP
end
```
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReDoS
- https://snyk.io/blog/redos-and-catastrophic-backtracking/
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an [issue](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/issues) or a [discussion](https://github.com/solidusio/solidus/discussions) in Solidus.
- Email us at [security@solidus.io](mailto:[email protected])
- Contact the core team on [Slack](http://slack.solidus.io/)
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity none, availability high.
Weakness class
CVE-2021-43805 is classified as CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity. A regular expression backtracks catastrophically on crafted input, consuming CPU out of proportion to input size.
Affected software
CVE-2021-43805 is recorded against 1 package.
- solidus-core (from 3.1.0 up to 3.1.4)
Timeline and source
Published on 7 December 2021 and last revised on 8 July 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.
References
github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| solidus-core | 3.1.0 | 3.1.4 |
References
Similar Threats
- Critical GHSA-5629-8855-gf4g
More CVE 2021 advisories
Browse all of CVE 2021 in the advisory index.
Site Security Check
Is solidus-core part of your stack?
CVE-2021-43805 is rated CVSS 8.0 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.
Scan My Site Free →No credit card required · Results in minutes
ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.