# CVE-2019-5434: Deserialization in Revive Adserver

> Attackers can exploit unsafe deserialization in Revive Adserver's XML-RPC interface to execute code or take over accounts.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 May 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7chh-x9j3-4vhx

## What is CVE-2019-5434?

CVE-2019-5434 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Revive Adserver, published on 6 May 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An attacker could send a specifically crafted payload to the XML-RPC invocation script and trigger the unserialize() call on the "what" parameter in the "openads.spc" RPC method. Such vulnerability could be used to perform various types of attacks, e.g. exploit serialize-related PHP vulnerabilities or PHP object injection. It is possible, although unconfirmed, that the vulnerability has been used by some attackers in order to gain access to some Revive Adserver instances and deliver malware through them to third party websites. This vulnerability was addressed in version 4.2.0.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-5434?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Revive-Sas Revive Adserver.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-5434?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-5434 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-5434 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-5434 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Revive Adserver 4.2 - Remote Code Execution (exploitdb)
- Revive Adserver 4.2 - Remote Code Execution (nuclei): http/cves/2019/CVE-2019-5434.yaml

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-5434 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-5434 is a critical unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Revive Adserver, published on 6 May 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-5434 exists.

Affected product: Revive Adserver. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5434/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5434/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-5434
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5434
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-5434

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5434/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.