CVE-2021-30468 Apache CXF Denial of service vulnerability in parsing JSON via JsonMapObjectReaderWriter
An attacker can cause a denial of service by sending malformed JSON to an Apache CXF web service, leading to an infinite loop and high CPU usage.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-30468?
CVE-2021-30468 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apache Cxf, published on 16 Jun 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A vulnerability in the JsonMapObjectReaderWriter of Apache CXF allows an attacker to submit malformed JSON to a web service, which results in the thread getting stuck in an infinite loop, consuming CPU indefinitely. This issue affects Apache CXF versions prior to 3.4.4; Apache CXF versions prior to 3.3.11.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-30468?
8 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf and org.apache.cxf:cxf. It affects 5 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf Maven | All versions | 3.3.11 |
org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf Maven | All versions | 3.3.11 |
org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf Maven | From 3.4.0 | 3.4.4 |
org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf Maven | From 3.4.0 | 3.4.4 |
org.apache.cxf:cxf Maven | All versions | 3.3.11 |
org.apache.cxf:cxf Maven | All versions | 3.3.11 |
2 more packages
org.apache.cxf:cxf Maven | From 3.4.0 | 3.4.4 |
org.apache.cxf:cxf Maven | From 3.4.0 | 3.4.4 |
Products include Apache Cxf, Apache Tomee, Oracle Business Intelligence, Oracle Communications Element Manager, Oracle Communications Messaging Server.
How do I fix CVE-2021-30468?
Upgrade org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf to a fixed version for your release line: 3.3.11 or 3.4.4.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2021-30468 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-30468 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apache Cxf
- CVE-2012-2379 XML Signature/Encryption Not Validated in Apache CXF
- CVE-2026-66909 Apache CXF: Unsafe deserialization of inbound JMS ObjectMessage
- CVE-2026-68079 Apache CXF: DefaultEncryptingCodeDataProvider allows unlimited authorization code replay
- CVE-2026-50628 Apache CXF: OAuth2: Inverted IP Binding Check Defeats Security Control
- CVE-2025-48913 Apache CXF: Untrusted JMS configuration can lead to RCE
Sources
Also known as GHSA-g23v-p5jq-jvh4.