CVE-2021-39144 XStream Remote Code Execution
Remote attackers can execute arbitrary host commands via manipulated XML input if XStream's security whitelist is not configured.
- Exploited in the wild
- Since 10 Mar 2023
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-39144?
CVE-2021-39144 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 23 Aug 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
XStream is a simple library to serialize objects to XML and back again. In affected versions this vulnerability may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by manipulating the processed input stream. No user is affected, who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's security framework with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types. XStream 1.4.18 uses no longer a blacklist by default, since it cannot be secured for general purpose.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-39144?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream. It affects 15 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream Maven | All versions | 1.4.18 |
com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream Maven | All versions | 1.4.18 |
Products include Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Netapp Snapmanager, Oracle Business Activity Monitoring, Oracle Commerce Guided Search, Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management Elastic Charging Engine and 9 more.
How do I fix CVE-2021-39144?
Upgrade com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream to 1.4.18 or later. US federal agencies must fix it by 31 Mar 2023.
Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.
Is CVE-2021-39144 being exploited?
Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2021-39144 in the wild since at least 10 Mar 2023.
Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module and 1 Nuclei template.
Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-39144, GHSA-j9h8-phrw-h4fh, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-39144.