Rack has quadratic complexity in Rack::Utils.select_best_encoding via wildcard Accept-Encoding header — CVE-2026-34230

Summary

## Summary `Rack::Utils.select_best_encoding` processes `Accept-Encoding` values with quadratic time complexity when the header contains many wildcard (`*`) entries. Because this method is used by `Rack::Deflater` to choose a response encoding, an unauthenticated attacker can send a single request with a crafted `Accept-Encoding` header and cause disproportionate CPU consumption on the compression middleware path.…

Product

rubygems: rack

What to do

General, cautious steps (verify details in the official source):

• Prioritize patching or mitigation immediately (treat as actively risky).
• Identify affected product versions in your inventory and verify whether you are impacted.
• Apply vendor patches/updates or recommended mitigations as soon as available.
• Read the official advisory for exact affected versions and remediation steps.

Official advisory

• Read the official source
• CVE Record
• NVD

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