CVE-2025-54572: Ruby SAML DOS vulnerability with large SAML response

Summary A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in ruby-saml even with the messagemaxbytesize setting configured. The vulnerability occurs because the SAML response is validated for Base64 format prior to checking the message size, leading to potential resource exhaustion.

Details ruby-saml includes a messagemaxbytesize setting intended to prevent DOS attacks and decompression bombs. However, this protection is ineffective in some cases due to the order of operations in the code:

https://github.com/SAML-Toolkits/ruby-saml/blob/fbbedc978300deb9355a8e505849666974ef2e67/lib/onelogin/ruby-saml/samlmessage.rb

ruby def decoderawsaml(saml, settings = nil) return saml unless base64encoded?(saml) # <--- Issue here. Should be moved after next code block.

settings = OneLogin::RubySaml::Settings.new if settings.nil? if saml.bytesize > settings.messagemaxbytesize raise ValidationError.new("Encoded SAML Message exceeds " + settings.messagemaxbytesize.tos + " bytes, so was rejected") end

decoded = decode(saml) ... end

The vulnerability is in the execution order. Prior to checking bytesize the base64encoded? function performs regex matching on the entire input string:

ruby !!string.gsub(/[\r\n]|\\r|\\n|\s/, "").match(BASE64FORMAT)

Impact What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?

When successfully exploited, this vulnerability can lead to:

- Excessive memory consumption - High CPU utilization - Application slowdown or unresponsiveness - Complete application crash in severe cases - Potential denial of service for legitimate users

All applications using ruby-saml with SAML configured and enabled are vulnerable.

Potential Solution

Reorder the validation steps to ensure max bytesize is checked first

ruby def decoderawsaml(saml, settings = nil) settings = OneLogin::RubySaml::Settings.new if settings.nil?

if saml.bytesize > settings.messagemaxbytesize raise ValidationError.new("Encoded SAML Message exceeds " + settings.messagemaxbytesize.tos + " bytes, so was rejected") end return saml unless base64encoded?(saml) decoded = decode(saml) ... end