Timeline

As of 8 October 2026

Dates when things happened are kept apart from the dates they became public. Most event dates before September come from the researchers' own timeline or from security firms, not from RubyGems.

Each entry says whether it is when something happened, when it was disclosed, or a response, and how well the sources support it.

The flood begins: 5 to 12 May 2026

1. 5 May 2026Happenedreported

   The earliest package in the researchers' set is uploaded.^[1][2]

2. 8 May 2026Happenedreported

   The first package with “oai” in its name appears, per the researchers.^[1]

3. 11 May 2026Response

   Mend.io's detection tool flags more than 120 new suspicious packages, and Mend.io removes the first batch.^[3]

4. 11 to 12 May 2026Happenedreported

   More than 2,000 packages are submitted at the peak, per the researchers and CyberScoop. RubyGems does not state this figure.^[1][4]

5. 12 May 2026Responsereported

   RubyGems disables new registrations. RubyGems confirms a pause happened; the 12 May start date is the researchers'. The same day, at least six packages query the old API-key address.^[5][1]

First disclosure and response: 13 to 16 May 2026

1. 13 May 2026Disclosedreported

   Socket publishes its “GemStuffer” report on 150+ gems; as relayed by The Hacker News it says nothing about OpenAI.^[6]

2. 13 May 2026Responsereported

   More than 500 packages have been yanked by this date, per the researchers. RubyGems gives no date for the removals.^[1][4]

3. 14 May 2026Disclosed

   Mend.io publishes its blog post on the flood (modified 17 August).^[3]

4. 16 May 2026Response

   RubyGems reopens registration. The researchers say disposable email addresses were blocked the same day.^[5][1]

Later waves and the key-leak flaw: 26 May to 23 July 2026

1. 26 to 27 May 2026Happenedreported

   Five more packages are published, per the researchers.^[1]

2. 18 June 2026Happenedreported

   83 packages are published over about three hours, per the researchers.^[1][7]

3. 6 to 9 July 2026Response

   The caching flaw that could expose old API keys is reported to RubyGems on 6 July and fixed on 9 July.^[8]

4. 7 July 2026Happenedreported

   JFrog finds its latest wave, 215 packages.^[9][2]

5. 22 and 23 July 2026Disclosed

   RubyGems publishes its security advisory on the key leak on 22 July; it is publicly disclosed on 23 July.^[8]

The link to OpenAI becomes public: 11 to 15 September 2026

1. 11 September 2026Disclosed

   The researchers publish their report at rubyhack.ai, RubyGems posts its update, and OpenAI's notice is first posted. No OpenAI disclosure before this date is visible in the sources.^[5][10][1]

2. 11 to 12 September 2026Disclosedreported

   CyberScoop (11 September), The Hacker News and Anadolu Agency (12 September) report the story.^[4][2][11]

3. 14 to 15 September 2026Disclosedreported

   The Register and The Next Web (14 September), then TechRadar and a JFrog analysis (15 September), follow. JFrog's inventory builds on the researchers' attribution.^{[7][12][13][9]}