CVE-2021-39146 XStream is vulnerable to an Arbitrary Code Execution attack
Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code by manipulating serialized input streams in XStream, unless a strict type whitelist is configured.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-39146?
CVE-2021-39146 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 to load and execute arbitrary code from a remote 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-2021-39146?
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-2021-39146?
Upgrade com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream to 1.4.18 or later.
Upgrade, and only deserialise data from trusted sources or with an allow-list of types. More about Unsafe deserialization.
Is CVE-2021-39146 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-39146 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template.
Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-39146, GHSA-p8pq-r894-fm8f, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-39146.