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MEDIUM

CVE-2020-26259

CVSS v3

6.8

MEDIUM

EPSS Score

82.4 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-19

CISA KEV

No

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstreamMavenall versions · fixed in 1.4.15

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2020-26259 Red Hat Product Security6 products fixed · 13 known affected

    XStream: arbitrary file deletion on the local host when unmarshalling

    xstream as a component of Red Hat BPM Suite 6 · xstream as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 · xstream-javadoc as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

  • RHSA-2021:5134 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Fuse 7.10.0 release and security update

  • RHSA-2021:4767 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Integration Camel Extensions for Quarkus GA security update

  • RHSA-2021:3205 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Integration Camel-K 1.4 release and security update

  • RHSA-2021:2476 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Decision Manager 7.11.0 security update

  • RHSA-2021:2475 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Process Automation Manager 7.11.0 security update

1 more advisory

Full record on NVD

Description

XStream is a Java library to serialize objects to XML and back again. In XStream before version 1.4.15, is vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Deletion on the local host when unmarshalling. The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to delete arbitrary know files on the host as log as the executing process has sufficient rights only by manipulating the processed input stream. If you rely on XStream's default blacklist of the Security Framework, you will have to use at least version 1.4.15. The reported vulnerability does not exist running Java 15 or higher. No user is affected, who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's Security Framework with a whitelist! Anyone relying on XStream's default blacklist can immediately switch to a whilelist for the allowed types to avoid the vulnerability. Users of XStream 1.4.14 or below who still want to use XStream default blacklist can use a workaround described in more detailed in the referenced advisories.

Technical details

Published
2020-12-16

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-26259?

XStream is a Java library to serialize objects to XML and back again. In XStream before version 1.4.15, is vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Deletion on the local host when unmarshalling. The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to delete arbitrary know files on the host as log as the executing process has sufficient rights only by manipulating the processed input stream. If you rely on XStream's default blacklist of the Security Framework, you will have to use at least version 1.4.15. The reported vulnerability does not exist running Java 15 or higher. No user is affected, who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's Security Framework with a whitelist! Anyone relying on XStream's default blacklist can immediately switch to a whilelist for the allowed types to avoid the vulnerability. Users of XStream 1.4.14 or below who still want to use XStream default blacklist can use a workaround described in more detailed in the referenced advisories.

Is CVE-2020-26259 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2020-26259 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 82.4% on 2026-10-19, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-26259?

CVE-2020-26259 has a CVSS v3 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM severity).

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