Ray DNS Rebinding: A Malicious Page Reaches the Local Jobs API
CVE-2025-62593 affects Ray before 2.52.0. A developer running the Ray Dashboard on its default port can be compromised after visiting a malicious page or advertisement in Firefox or Safari. DNS rebinding changes the attacker's origin to the local or private Ray endpoint; browser JavaScript sets a non-Mozilla User-Agent to bypass Ray's weak browser heuristic, then submits a job to the unauthenticated Jobs API. Ray executes the supplied command. CISA added the CVE to KEV on August 17, 2026, but has not attributed the exploitation.
Threat Analysis
- The browser check trusted a spoofable header. Ray blocked POST and PUT only when
User-Agentbegan withMozilla. Firefox and Safari allow JavaScript to set another value, so the request no longer looks like browser traffic to the middleware. - DNS rebinding crosses the origin-to-network boundary. The victim first loads content from the attacker's domain; subsequent DNS answers point that same origin at port 8265 on localhost or a private Ray host.
- The Jobs API supplies the execution sink. After the header bypass, the page submits an unauthenticated job containing attacker-selected commands. The advisory proof of concept opens Calculator; broader payloads are possible but are not evidence of a specific observed campaign.
- Browser scope matters. The advisory verifies Firefox and Safari and explicitly states that Chrome was not vulnerable through this header-setting path at disclosure time.
Applicable AIDEFEND Defenses (3)
What Defenders Should Do Now
- Upgrade every Ray deployment below 2.52.0 and verify the running dashboard process, not only lockfiles or build manifests.
- Require authentication and authorization for Jobs API operations; do not rely on User-Agent, Origin alone, or assumptions about browser-forbidden headers.
- Restrict port 8265 and other Ray management endpoints with host firewall and network policy, including on developer laptops and shared workstations.
- Hunt for unexpected Jobs API submissions from browser-like sessions, unusual User-Agent values, and jobs launched shortly after visits to unfamiliar domains.
- If unexplained jobs executed, investigate the host and rotate accessible credentials; do not attach the case to a named botnet or payload without separate evidence.
Conclusion
This chain combines three boundaries that each failed: browser-origin assumptions, network reachability to a local management service, and an unauthenticated code-execution API. Ray 2.52.0 fixes the disclosed vulnerability. Authentication and network isolation remain necessary because header heuristics cannot establish who is allowed to submit work.