Answer in brief
CVE-2025-59830 records a High severity (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in Rack has an unsafe default in Rack::QueryParser allows params_limit bypass via semicolon-separated parameters. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps rack (rubygems). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 7.5. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps rack (rubygems). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| rackrubygems | >=0 <2.2.18 | 2.2.18 |
Published upstream
Sep 25, 2025
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 7, 2026
## Summary `Rack::QueryParser` in version `< 2.2.18` enforces its `params_limit` 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#check_query_string` counts only `&` characters when determining the number of parameters, but the default separator regex `DEFAULT_SEP = /[&;] */n` splits on both `&` and `;`. This mismatch means that queries using `;` separators were not included in the parameter count, allowing `params_limit` to be bypassed. Other safeguards (`bytesize_limit` and `key_space_limit`) 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 `params_limit`. * 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.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.