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TI-2026-66876 Aliases GHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h

Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when setting `Document#root=` to an invalid node type

Priority LOW 38CWE-416Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
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Privileges required
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User interaction
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Attack complexity
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Impact type
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Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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Fix status
Fixed

No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub.

Summary

### Summary `Nokogiri::XML::Document#root=` validated only that the new root was a `Nokogiri::XML::Node`, allowing a DTD node to be set as the document root. The result is a heap use-after-free during garbage collection or finalization, leading to an invalid memory read or potentially a segfault. Nokogiri 1.19.4 restricts `Document#root=` to element nodes, raising `TypeError` for any other node type. This memory-safety issue affects only the CRuby implementation (libxml2). The JRuby implementation was not affected; the same input validation was added there for behavioral parity. ### Severity The Nokogiri maintainers have evaluated this as low severity. This is only triggered by a programming error. It requires application code to assign a non-element node such as a DTD as the document root via `Document#root=`. Nokogiri 1.19.4 now raises `TypeError` instead of allowing a use-after-free. It cannot be triggered by untrusted input or through normal use of the public API. ### Mitigation Upgrade to Nokogiri 1.19.4 or later. As a workaround, applications that cannot upgrade should avoid assigning a DTD (or any non-element node) via `Document#root=`. ### Credit This issue was responsibly reported by Zheng Yu from depthfirst.com.

Why it matters now

Fix Fixed nokogiri (RubyGems): 1.19.4

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
—nokogiri (RubyGems)before 1.19.41.19.4Patch availableGHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h
  • nokogiri (RubyGems) Vendor— Affected before 1.19.4 Fixed in 1.19.4 Patch available GHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h

Remediation

  • Fix · GHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h nokogiri (RubyGems) Fixed in 1.19.4 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-wjv4-x9w8-wm3h

References

Sources

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