CVE-2026-66066

CRITICAL LAB

Action Pack: Possible arbitrary file read and remote code execution in Active Storage variant processing

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 4 public exploits for CVE-2026-66066. PoCs published by Zer0SumGam3, rails, paveg.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository provides a functional proof-of-concept for CVE-2026-66066, a Rails Active Storage file-read-to-RCE chain exploiting unsafe deserialization in libvips image processing. The exploit constructs a malicious HDF5/MATLAB external-storage image with an embedded Ruby Marshal payload to leak SECRET_KEY_BASE and achieve remote code execution via MiniMagick::Tool.

Description

Action Pack is a framework for handling and responding to web requests. In versions prior to 7.2.3.2, 8.0.5.1 and 8.1.3.1, Active Storage does not disable libvips operations marked unsafe for untrusted content, allowing a crafted upload to invoke such an operation. Consuming applications are affected when configured to use libvips and accept image uploads from untrusted users. An unauthenticated attacker may exploit this behavior to read arbitrary files accessible to the Rails process, including environment variables and application secrets. Exposure of credentials such as secret_key_base or external-service tokens may enable remote code execution or lateral movement. This issue has been fixed in versions 7.2.3.2, 8.0.5.1 and 8.1.3.1.

Exploits (4)

nomisec WORKING POC 14 stars
by Zer0SumGam3 · poc
https://github.com/Zer0SumGam3/CVE-2026-66066-POC

This repository provides a functional proof-of-concept for CVE-2026-66066, a Rails Active Storage file-read-to-RCE chain exploiting unsafe deserialization in libvips image processing. The exploit constructs a malicious HDF5/MATLAB external-storage image with an embedded Ruby Marshal payload to leak SECRET_KEY_BASE and achieve remote code execution via MiniMagick::Tool.

Classification
Working Poc 99%
Attack Type
Deserialization
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Ruby on Rails 8.1.3 with Active Storage and libvips image processor
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Target must use Rails 8.1.3 with Active Storage and libvips for image processing · Attacker must be able to upload files to the target application · Out-of-band callback (OAST) server for correlation
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Jul 31, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec SCANNER
by rails · poc
https://github.com/rails/rails-forensics-CVE-2026-66066

This repository contains forensic tools to detect and analyze exploitation of CVE-2026-66066, a vulnerability in Ruby on Rails' Active Storage component involving libvips and libmatio. The tools scan for crafted MAT files that exploit an external file read issue in HDF5 containers, but do not contain exploit code.

Classification
Scanner 98%
Attack Type
Info Leak
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Ruby on Rails (Active Storage), libvips, libmatio
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to Active Storage blobs · Knowledge of the exposure window (vulnerable code deployment period) · Database and object store access for forensic analysis
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Jul 31, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec SCANNER
by paveg · poc
https://github.com/paveg/rails-activestorage-vips-audit

This repository contains a configuration audit script for CVE-2026-66066, a vulnerability in Ruby on Rails' Active Storage component when using libvips as the variant processor. The script collects evidence to determine if a Rails application is exposed to arbitrary file read and remote code execution via unsafe libvips operations, but does not exploit the vulnerability.

Classification
Scanner 99%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Ruby on Rails (activestorage gem < 7.2.3.2 with config.active_storage.variant_processor = :vips)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Ability to upload files to the target Rails application · Target must use Active Storage with libvips as the variant processor · Unpatched activestorage gem version
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Jul 31, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec STUB
by 0xBlackash · poc
https://github.com/0xBlackash/CVE-2026-66066

This repository provides a high-level overview of CVE-2026-66066, a pre-authentication RCE vulnerability in Ruby on Rails Active Storage when processing images with libvips. However, it lacks exploit code, technical depth, or proof-of-concept details, serving only as a placeholder for documentation and detection rules.

Classification
Stub 95%
Attack Type
Rce
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: Ruby on Rails Active Storage with libvips (vulnerable configurations)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Ruby on Rails application using Active Storage · libvips configured for image processing · Unpatched versions of Rails/libvips
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Jul 31, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v4 9.5
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable yes
Technical Impact total

Details

CWE
CWE-1188
Status published
Products (6)
rails/rails < 7.2.3.2
rails/rails >= 8.0.0.beta1, < 8.0.5.1
rails/rails >= 8.1.0.beta1, < 8.1.3.1
rubygems/activestorage 0 - 7.2.3.2RubyGems
rubygems/activestorage 8.0.0.beta1 - 8.0.5.1RubyGems
rubygems/activestorage 8.1.0.beta1 - 8.1.3.1RubyGems
Published Jul 30, 2026
Tracked Since Jul 31, 2026