CVE-2015-6420 Insecure Deserialization in Apache Commons Collection

Critical 9.8 Published Updated

Remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands on various Cisco products via crafted serialized Java objects exploiting the Apache Commons Collections library.

Exploited in the wild
Not known
Login needed
Not needed
Attackable
Over the internet
Victim action needed
Not needed
Fix
Available

What is CVE-2015-6420?

CVE-2015-6420 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Dec 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Serialized-object interfaces in certain Cisco Collaboration and Social Media; Endpoint Clients and Client Software; Network Application, Service, and Acceleration; Network and Content Security Devices; Network Management and Provisioning; Routing and Switching - Enterprise and Service Provider; Unified Computing; Voice and Unified Communications Devices; Video, Streaming, TelePresence, and Transcoding Devices; Wireless; and Cisco Hosted Services products allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object, related to the Apache Commons Collections (ACC) library.

Weakness: CWE-502

Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-6420?

10 open source packages ship an affected version, including commons-collections:commons-collections, net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic and org.apache.commons:commons-collections4. It affects 1 product.

PackageAffectedFixed in
commons-collections:commons-collections MavenAll versions3.2.2
commons-collections:commons-collections MavenAll versions3.2.2
net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic MavenAll versions to 4.0.1None
net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic MavenAll versions to 4.0.1None
org.apache.commons:commons-collections4 MavenAll versions4.1
org.apache.commons:commons-collections4 MavenAll versions4.1
4 more packages
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic MavenAll versions to 4.01None
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic MavenAll versions to 4.01None
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections MavenAll versions to 3.2.1None
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections MavenAll versions to 3.2.1None

Products include Apache Commons Collections.

How do I fix CVE-2015-6420?

Upgrade commons-collections:commons-collections to 3.2.2 or later.

Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.

Is CVE-2015-6420 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-6420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

Sources

Also known as CLSA-2026-1777509604, CLSA-2026-1778114665, CLSA-2026-1789362482, GHSA-6hgm-866r-3cjv, ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2015-6420.

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