Loading...
Skip to main content

CVE-2021-29509

HIGH

Puma's Keepalive Connections Causing Denial Of Service

Published May 18, 2021Updated July 8, 2026Source: osv

Summary

This vulnerability is related to [CVE-2019-16770](https://github.com/puma/puma/security/advisories/GHSA-7xx3-m584-x994). ### Impact The fix for CVE-2019-16770 was incomplete. The original fix only protected existing connections that had already been accepted from having their requests starved by greedy persistent-connections saturating all threads in the same process. However, new connections may still be starved by greedy persistent-connections saturating all threads in all processes in the cluster. A `puma` server which received more concurrent `keep-alive` connections than the server had threads in its threadpool would service only a subset of connections, denying service to the unserved connections. ### Patches This problem has been fixed in `puma` 4.3.8 and 5.3.1. ### Workarounds Setting `queue_requests false` also fixes the issue. This is not advised when using `puma` without a reverse proxy, such as `nginx` or `apache`, because you will open yourself to slow client attacks (e.g. [slowloris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slowloris_(computer_security))). The fix is very small. [A git patch is available here](https://gist.github.com/nateberkopec/4b3ea5676c0d70cbb37c82d54be25837) for those using [unsupported versions](https://github.com/puma/puma/security/policy#supported-versions) of Puma. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [Puma](https://github.com/puma/puma). * To report problems with this fix or to report another vulnerability, see [our security policy.](https://github.com/puma/puma/security/policy) ### Acknowledgements Thank you to @MSP-Greg, @wjordan and @evanphx for their review on this issue. Thank you to @ioquatix for providing a modified fork of `wrk` which made debugging this issue much easier.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Bundler
Update puma to 5.3.1 or later
gem install puma -v 5.3.1
Bundler
Update puma to 4.3.8 or later
gem install puma -v 4.3.8

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
puma
rubygems
5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.0.2, 5.0.3 (+7 more)5.3.1
puma
rubygems
0.8.0, 0.8.1, 0.8.2, 0.9.0 (+118 more)4.3.8

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-400
    Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 7.5 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-29509?
Puma's Keepalive Connections Causing Denial Of Service This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 7.5/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2021-29509?
CVE-2021-29509 affects puma. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2021-29509 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
7.5

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-q28m-8xjw-8vr5

Related CVEs

Check if you're affected

Scan your dependencies to see if this vulnerability affects your projects.

Scan Your Dependencies