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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 10 Aug 2022.
ActivemqApplication · Apache

CVE-2016-3088

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-06-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.14.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 Fileserver web application in Apache ActiveMQ 5.x before 5.14.0 allows remote attackers to upload and execute arbitrary files via an HTTP PUT followed by an HTTP MOVE request.

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 Fileserver web application in Apache ActiveMQ 5.x before 5.14.0 contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability. Attackers can upload malicious files via HTTP PUT requests and then move them to executable locations using HTTP MOVE requests, achieving remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade to Apache ActiveMQ 5.14.0 or later, or if the Fileserver is not required, disable or remove the fileserver web application entirely.

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
ActivemqApplication
Affected:>= 5.0.0, < 5.14.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 Apache ActiveMQ version
    Check the version file typically located at <activemq-install>/activemq-version.txt, or run 'activemq --version' from the bin directory, or inspect the ACTIVEMQ_VERSION property in the startup logs
    Affected if The installed version is 5.0.0 through 5.13.x (any version < 5.14.0)
  2. Locate the Fileserver web application
    Inspect the <activemq-install>/webapps/ directory for a 'fileserver' folder or WAR file. Also check the conf/jetty.xml configuration for webapp handlers
    Affected if A fileserver directory or WAR exists in webapps, indicating the vulnerable application is deployed
  3. Verify Fileserver servlet is configured
    Examine the web application's web.xml file (found at <activemq-install>/webapps/fileserver/WEB-INF/web.xml) for the MoveServlet or FileServer servlet mappings
    Affected if The MoveServlet is mapped and accessible, enabling the HTTP MOVE functionality required for the attack
  4. Check network exposure of the Fileserver
    Review jetty.xml or jetty-realm.properties to confirm the Fileserver webapp bind address and whether it is accessible over network (not localhost-only)
    Affected if The Fileserver is bound to a public or reachable network interface (0.0.0.0 or non-localhost IP)

You are affected if Apache ActiveMQ version is less than 5.14.0 AND the Fileserver web application is deployed and accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.14.0 or later
Fixed in 5.14.0
Vendor patch lists.apache.org →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Apache ActiveMQ 5.14.0 or later, or if the Fileserver is not required, disable or remove the fileserver web application entirely.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apache ActiveMQ 5.14.0 or later (recommended: 5.15.0 stable release)

  1. 1. Backup your current ActiveMQ installation, data directory, and configuration files
  2. 2. Stop the ActiveMQ service
  3. 3. Download Apache ActiveMQ 5.14.0 or later from the official Apache archive (activemq.apache.org)
  4. 4. Extract the new version to your installation directory
  5. 5. Restore your configuration files from the backup (or migrate settings to the new version)
  6. 6. Start the ActiveMQ service
  7. 7. Verify the fileserver application is no longer exposed or has been disabled if not needed
Caveat Minor - review release notes for any configuration changes between your current version and 5.14.0; test custom configurations before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Activemq Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2016-3088 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data