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Jboss Enterprise Brms PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2013-2186

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-10-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.1 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The DiskFileItem class in Apache Commons FileUpload, as used in Red Hat JBoss BRMS 5.3.1; JBoss Portal 4.3 CP07, 5.2.2, and 6.0.0; and Red Hat JBoss Web Server 1.0.2 allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a NULL byte in a file name in a serialized instance.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The DiskFileItem class in Apache Commons FileUpload contains a deserialization vulnerability where a NULL byte in a serialized file name allows path truncation, enabling remote attackers to write arbitrary files to the filesystem. This occurs when deserializing untrusted DiskFileItem objects, allowing remote code execution through arbitrary file write.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Commons FileUpload to a patched version (1.3.1 or later for 1.x branch, or 1.4 if available), or implement validation to reject serialized DiskFileItem instances containing NULL bytes in file names.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Jboss Enterprise Brms PlatformApplication
Affected:= 5.3.1
Jboss Enterprise Portal PlatformApplication
Affected:= 4.3.0= 5.2.2= 6.0.0
Jboss Enterprise Web ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.0.2
OpenshiftApplication
Affected:<= 3.1
UbuntuOperating system
Affected:= 10.04

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify deployed product and version
    Locate the installed Red Hat JBoss product (Enterprise BRMS, Portal Platform, Web Server, or OpenShift) or Ubuntu version 10.04. Check installed packages, WAR deployment metadata, or system inventory for the exact product version.
    Affected if The product version matches one of the affected versions: JBoss BRMS 5.3.1, JBoss Portal Platform 4.3.0/5.2.2/6.0.0, JBoss Web Server 1.0.2, OpenShift <= 3.1, or Ubuntu 10.04.
  2. Locate Apache Commons FileUpload library
    Search the application's classpath, lib directory, or dependency manifest (pom.xml, MANIFEST.MF, WAR's WEB-INF/lib) for commons-fileupload*.jar. Use commands like 'find . -name "commons-fileupload*.jar"' or inspect the application's dependency tree.
    Affected if The commons-fileupload library is present in the deployment.
  3. Determine Commons FileUpload version
    Examine the file name of the commons-fileupload JAR (e.g., commons-fileupload-1.2.jar) or inspect the JAR's MANIFEST.MF for the Implementation-Version attribute. You can also query the JAR with 'jar tf commons-fileupload.jar | grep DiskFileItem' to confirm the class exists.
    Affected if The version is 1.2.x or earlier, or any version prior to 1.3.1.
  4. Check for DiskFileItem deserialization exposure
    Review application code and configuration for endpoints that accept serialized Java objects, especially those using ObjectInputStream or frameworks that auto-deserialize (e.g., JMX, RMI, certain REST serializers). Search for patterns like 'DiskFileItem' in decoded serialized streams or logs.
    Affected if The application accepts and deserializes DiskFileItem objects from untrusted network sources.
  5. Inspect runtime for NULL byte injection vectors
    If DiskFileItem deserialization is in use, examine HTTP requests or upload endpoints for file name parameters that may contain NULL bytes (%00 or literal \x00). Review access logs or captured traffic for such patterns.
    Affected if NULL bytes are observed in file name parameters being processed by DiskFileItem, indicating active exploitation attempts or vulnerable code paths.

You are affected if you run any of the listed product versions AND have Apache Commons FileUpload <=1.2.x in the classpath AND accept deserialized DiskFileItem objects from untrusted sources, which together enable the NULL byte path truncation attack.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Commons FileUpload to a patched version (1.3.1 or later for 1.x branch, or 1.4 if available), or implement validation to reject serialized DiskFileItem instances containing NULL bytes in file names.

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Brms Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,560
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-2186 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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