Full Report
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Monday added a critical flaw impacting Ray to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing evidence of active exploitation. Ray is an open-source, Python-native distributed computing framework designed to scale artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads. As of writing, the GitHub project has more than
Analysis Summary
# Vulnerability: Critical RCE in Ray Distributed Computing Framework
## CVE Details
- **CVE ID:** CVE-2025-62593
- **CVSS Score:** 9.4 (Critical)
- **CWE:** Not specifically listed (related to Insufficient Authentication and DNS Rebinding)
## Affected Systems
- **Products:** Ray (Open-source Python-native distributed computing framework)
- **Versions:** All versions prior to 2.52.0
- **Configurations:**
- Development and testing environments where Ray is running locally.
- Instances accessible via browsers (specifically Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari).
- Ray clusters with unauthenticated critical endpoints (e.g., `/api/jobs` and `/api/job_agent/jobs/`).
## Vulnerability Description
The flaw arises from a lack of authentication on critical API endpoints combined with insufficient protections against browser-based attacks. Attackers can utilize a **DNS rebinding attack** to bypass the "Same-Origin Policy" (SOP) in browsers like Firefox and Safari. By tricking a developer into visiting a malicious website or clicking a malicious advertisement, the attacker’s site can communicate with the local Ray instance, leveraging the browser as a "confused deputy" to execute arbitrary shell code on the machine.
## Exploitation
- **Status:** Exploited in the wild (added to CISA KEV catalog). Incorporate into the RondoDox DDoS botnet and used in "ShadowRay 2.0" campaigns for cryptocurrency mining.
- **Complexity:** Medium (requires user interaction via phishing or malicious ads).
- **Attack Vector:** Network (Web-based/Remote).
## Impact
- **Confidentiality:** High (Full access to the machine/cluster).
- **Integrity:** High (Ability to execute arbitrary shell code).
- **Availability:** High (Used for DDoS botnets and resource hijacking for crypto-mining).
## Remediation
### Patches
- **Upgrade to Ray version 2.52.0** or later.
### Workarounds
- Ensure Ray instances are not exposed to the public internet.
- Use browsers with built-in DNS rebinding protections (though the advisory notes Firefox and Safari remain specifically vulnerable in this context).
- Avoid running Ray in development environments while browsing untrusted websites.
## Detection
- **Indicators of Compromise:**
- Presence of the "RondoDox" DDoS botnet artifacts.
- Unauthorized jobs appearing in the Ray dashboard or `/api/jobs` endpoint.
- Unexpected high GPU/CPU utilization (indicative of ShadowRay 2.0 crypto-mining).
- **Detection Methods and Tools:**
- Monitor network traffic for DNS rebinding attempts (rapid IP changes for a single domain).
- Audit logs for the Ray Job API for unauthorized command execution.
## References
- **Vendor Advisory:** [https://github.com/ray-project/ray/security/advisories/GHSA-q279-jhrf-cc6v]
- **CISA KEV Catalog:** [https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog]
- **Oligo Security Research:** [https://thehackernews.com/2025/11/shadowray-20-exploits-unpatched-ray.html]
- **News Source:** [https://thehackernews.com/2026/08/cisa-flags-actively-exploited-ray-flaw.html]