It slowed down the update (to 3.2.11), but it didn't prevent us from removing the XML parser from DEFAULT_PARSERS immediately. I'm not defending anyone here. I'm simply pointing out that the scenario wasn't exactly status quo. This has all moved very quickly.
EDIT: I guess that qualifies as a mitigation strategy, but when I said that, I was talking more along the lines of the patches, or like another person I know, even more dramatic steps like forking Rails. There are regressions in the 3.2.x updates since 3.2.9 that affect some sites.
Bottom line is that there was a lot of bad timing here that sucked up a lot of time in securing a Rails site.
EDIT: I guess that qualifies as a mitigation strategy, but when I said that, I was talking more along the lines of the patches, or like another person I know, even more dramatic steps like forking Rails. There are regressions in the 3.2.x updates since 3.2.9 that affect some sites.
Bottom line is that there was a lot of bad timing here that sucked up a lot of time in securing a Rails site.