CVE-2013-2185 Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache Tomcat
Remote attackers can write to arbitrary files via a NULL byte in a serialized instance in Apache Tomcat's DiskFileItem class.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2013-2185?
CVE-2013-2185 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Apache Tomcat, published on 19 Jan 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The readObject method in the DiskFileItem class in Apache Tomcat and JBoss Web, as used in Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.1.0 and Red Hat JBoss Portal 6.0.0, allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a NULL byte in a file name in a serialized instance, a similar issue to CVE-2013-2186. NOTE: this issue is reportedly disputed by the Apache Tomcat team, although Red Hat considers it a vulnerability. The dispute appears to regard whether it is the responsibility of applications to avoid providing untrusted data to be deserialized, or whether this class should inherently protect against this issue
Weakness: CWE-20
Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-2185?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.tomcat:tomcat. It affects 3 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | All versions | 7.0.39 |
org.apache.tomcat:tomcat Maven | All versions | 7.0.39 |
Linux distribution packages (2)
jbossweb Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:6::el5 | All versions | 0:7.2.0-3.redhat_2.ep6.el5 |
jbossweb Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:6::el6 | All versions | 0:7.2.0-3.redhat_2.ep6.el6 |
Products include Apache Tomcat, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Application Platform, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Portal Platform.
How do I fix CVE-2013-2185?
Upgrade org.apache.tomcat:tomcat to 7.0.39 or later.
Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.
Is CVE-2013-2185 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-2185 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tomcat
Sources
Also known as GHSA-v6c7-8qx5-8gmp, RHSA-2013:1193.