GitHub Security Advisory: GHSA-jp94-3292-c3xv
Package: devise (RUBYGEMS)
Severity: MODERATE (CVSS 6.1)
CWE: CWE-601: URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect')
Vulnerable versions: <= 5.0.3
Patched in: 5.0.4

Summary: Devise has an Open Redirect via Unvalidated `request.referrer` in Timeoutable Session Timeout Handler

Details:
## Summary

When the `Timeoutable` module is enabled in Devise, the `FailureApp#redirect_url` method returns `request.referrer` — the HTTP `Referer` header, which is attacker-controllable — without validation for any non-GET request that results in a session timeout. An attacker who hosts a page with an auto-submitting cross-origin form can cause a victim with an expired Devise session to be redirected to an arbitrary external URL. This contrasts with the GET timeout path (which uses server-side `attempted_path`) and Devise's own `store_location_for` mechanism (which strips external hosts via `extract_path_from_location`), both of which are protected; only the non-GET timeout redirect path is unprotected.

## Details

The vulnerable code is in `lib/devise/failure_app.rb`:

```ruby
def redirect_url
  if warden_message == :timeout
    flash[:timedout] = true if is_flashing_format?

    path = if request.get?
      attempted_path          # safe: server-side value from warden options
    else
      request.referrer        # UNSAFE: HTTP Referer header, attacker-controlled
    end

    path || scope_url
  else
    scope_url
  end
end
```

This is passed directly to `redirect_to`:

```ruby
def redirect
  store_location!
  # ...
  redirect_to redirect_url   # redirect_url may be an external attacker URL
end
```

The GET timeout path uses `attempted_path`, which is set server-side by Warden and cannot be influenced by the client. The `store_location!` method also only runs for GET requests, so no session-based protection is applied on POST timeouts.

By contrast, Devise's `store_location_for` method (used elsewhere) correctly sanitizes URLs via `extract_path_from_location`, which strips the scheme and host.

## Impact

- Victims with expired sessions who click any attacker-crafted link or visit an attacker page with an auto-submitting form are redirected to an arbitrary external URL.
- The redirect happens transparently via a trusted domain (the target app's domain), bypassing browser phishing warnings.
- An attacker can redirect victims to a fake login page to harvest credentials (phishing), or to malicious download sites.

_Note_: Rails' built-in open-redirect protection does not mitigate this issue. `Devise::FailureApp` is an `ActionController::Metal` app with its own isolated copy of the relevant redirect configuration, so `config.action_controller.action_on_open_redirect = :raise` (and the older `raise_on_open_redirects` setting) do not reach it.

## Patches

This is patched in Devise v5.0.4. Users should upgrade as soon as possible.

## Workaround

None beyond upgrading. If an upgrade is not immediately possible, the same changes from the patch commit can be applied as a monkey-patch in a Rails initializer (`Devise::FailureApp#redirect_url` and `Devise::Controllers::StoreLocation#extract_path_from_location`). Remove the monkey-patch after upgrading.