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CVE Record

CVE-2012-6685: Nokogiri before 1.5.4 is vulnerable to XXE attacks

Nokogiri before 1.5.4 is vulnerable to XXE attacks

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Nokogiri versions before 1.5.4 are reported vulnerable to XML External Entity attacks. Business risk depends on whether applications parse XML from untrusted sources. The bundle gives no CVSS score and no evidence of active exploitation, so urgency should be based on where old Nokogiri versions remain in exposed workflows.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted legacy dependency cleanup item. Escalate priority for internet-facing or partner-facing XML processing. The absence of CVSS and KEV evidence lowers certainty, but old parser vulnerabilities can create meaningful data exposure risk.

Technical view

CVE-2012-6685 covers an XXE flaw in Nokogiri before 1.5.4. XXE issues can let XML parsers access external entities when handling crafted XML. The provided sources identify the affected version range but do not include CVSS, CWE, exploit status, or detailed remediation notes beyond the version boundary.

Likely exposure

Likely exposure is Ruby applications or packaged software using Nokogiri earlier than 1.5.4, especially where XML is accepted from users, partners, uploads, APIs, or background integrations. Evidence is incomplete for downstream packaged products.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitability would depend on an application path that parses attacker-controlled XML with a vulnerable Nokogiri version. No weaponized details are provided in the supplied evidence.

Researcher notes

The bundle is sparse: affected product metadata is listed as n/a, while the description identifies Nokogiri before 1.5.4. Use local dependency evidence and vendor changelog/advisory confirmation before scoping broadly across products.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory applications and packages using Nokogiri before 1.5.4.
  • Upgrade Nokogiri to 1.5.4 or later where supported.
  • Check Nokogiri and distribution advisories for supported package guidance.
  • Prioritize externally reachable XML processing paths first.
  • Restrict untrusted XML processing until affected instances are remediated.

Validation and detection

  • Check dependency manifests and lockfiles for Nokogiri versions below 1.5.4.
  • Confirm runtime environments are not loading an older Nokogiri version.
  • Identify routes, jobs, or integrations that parse XML input.
  • Review vendor or distribution packages for backported fixes.
  • Record compensating controls where immediate upgrade is not possible.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
4Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.