CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2023-51518 — Apache James security vulnerability
Apache James prior to version 3.7.5 and 3.8.0 exposes a JMX endpoint on localhost subject to pre-authentication deserialisation of untrusted data. Given a deserialisation gadjet, this could be leveraged as part of an exploit chain that could result in privilege escalation. Note that by default JMX endpoint is only bound locally. We recommend users to: - Upgrade to a non-vulnerable Apache James version - Run Apache James isolated from other processes (docker - dedicated virtual machine) - If possible turn off JMX
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Published
- 2024-02-27
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-502
Affected products
- apache / james / 3.7.5
- apache / james / 3.8.0
Matched remediation archetype
Unsafe deserialization and object reconstruction
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Check exposure
- Inventory serialization formats accepted from requests, queues, caches, files, cookies, and cross-service messages.
- Trace whether untrusted input can select classes, types, callbacks, constructors, or object hooks during decoding.
- Identify signing, schema validation, trust-boundary, and compatibility settings for each decoder.
Remediate safely
- Replace native object deserialization with a data-only format and explicit schema validation.
- If replacement is not immediate, use a safe decoder with a minimal type allowlist and disable polymorphic or executable hooks.
- Update the affected library and add inert tests for unknown types, extra fields, malformed nesting, and unsigned data.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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