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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2021-39144

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2023-03-10 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel, GCVE · shadowserver.

  • Published2021-08-23
  • Fixed in1.4.18
  • WeaknessCWE-306 · CWE-502 · CWE-94

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

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.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-08-2318:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2023-03-10Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2023-03-10Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2023-03-10Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2025-02-0619:37SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-39144?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-39144?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD · OSV
Xstream
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.4< 1.4.181.4.18
Oracle utilities framework
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.2= 4.2.0.2.0no fix published
4.2= 4.2.0.3.0no fix published
4.3= 4.3.0.1.0no fix published
4.3= 4.3.0.6.0no fix published
4.4= 4.4.0.0.0no fix published
4.4= 4.4.0.2.0no fix published
4.4= 4.4.0.3.0no fix published
Oracle communications unified inventory management
BranchAffectedFixed in
7.3= 7.3.4no fix published
7.3= 7.3.5no fix published
7.4= 7.4.0no fix published
7.4= 7.4.1no fix published
7.4= 7.4.2no fix published

12 more products in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As GitHub_M, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • x-stream xstream
    Affected
    • = < 1.4.18no fix stated

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2022-11-15

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

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:xstreamTuxCare:Mavenfrom 1.4.17 · fixed in 1.4.17-tuxcare.1
  • hadoop-fips-3.3.6Chainguardall versions · no fixed version listedand 1 other package
  • libxstream-javaUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 1.4.8-1ubuntu0.1+esm1
  • libxstream-javaUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 1.4.7-1ubuntu0.1+esm1
  • libxstream-javaUbuntu:22.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 1.4.18-2ubuntu0.1
  • libxstream-javaUbuntu:20.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 1.4.11.1-1ubuntu0.3
  • libxstream-javaUbuntu:18.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 1.4.11.1-1+deb10u4build0.18.04.1
  • libxstream-javaDebian:14all versions · fixed in 1.4.18-1

21 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2021-39144 Red Hat Product Security19 products fixed · 9 known affected

    xstream: Arbitrary code execution via unsafe deserialization of sun.tracing.*

    xstream as a component of Red Hat BPM Suite 6 · xstream as a component of Red Hat Integration Camel Quarkus 1 · xstream as a component of Red Hat JBoss A-MQ 6 · +6 more

  • RHSA-2023:3892 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Single Sign-On 7.6.4 security update

  • RHSA-2023:1303 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Data Grid 7.3.10 security update

  • RHSA-2022:0520 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Data Grid 8.3.0 security update

  • RHSA-2022:0297 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Decision Manager 7.12.0 security update

  • RHSA-2022:0296 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Process Automation Manager 7.12.0 security update

3 more advisories

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Update Xstream to 1.4.18
  2. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2023-03-31
  3. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2023:3892 · 1 productBefore applying this update, make sure all previously released errata relevant to your system have been applied. For details on how to apply this update, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
  4. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2023:1303 · 1 productTo install this update, do the following: 1. Download the Data Grid 7.3.10 server patch from the customer portal[²]. 2. Back up your existing Data Grid installation. You should back up databases, configuration files, and so on. 3. Install the Data Grid 7.3.10 server patch. Refer to the 7.3.10 Rel…
  5. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2022:0520 · 1 productTo install this update, do the following: 1. Download the Data Grid 8.3.0 Server patch from the customer portal[²]. 2. Back up your existing Data Grid installation. You should back up databases, configuration files, and so on. 3. Install the Data Grid 8.3.0 Server patch. 4. Restart Data Grid to e…
  6. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2022:0297 · 1 productFor on-premise installations, before applying the update, back up your existing installation, including all applications, configuration files, databases and database settings, and so on. It is recommended to halt the server by stopping the JBoss Application Server process before installing this up…
  7. Vendor fix Red Hat Product Security RHSA-2021:3956 · 12 productsFor details on how to apply this update, which includes the changes described in this advisory, refer to: https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258
  8. No fix available, says the vendor Red Hat Product Security CVE-2021-39144 · 3 productsAffected

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
available
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/linux/http/vmware_nsxmgr_xstream_rce_cve_2021_39144rank: excellentModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2023-03-10
Patch Due Date
2023-03-31
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-08-23
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-j9h8-phrw-h4fh

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-39144?

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.

Is CVE-2021-39144 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-39144 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2023-03-31.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-39144?

CVE-2021-39144 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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