dbcve.org
ArtifactoryApplication · Jfrog

CVE-2016-6501

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 4.10 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
JFrog Artifactory before 4.11 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via an LDAP attribute with a crafted serialized Java object, aka LDAP entry poisoning.

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

JFrog Artifactory versions before 4.11 are vulnerable to LDAP entry poisoning. Attackers can inject malicious serialized Java objects into LDAP attributes. When Artifactory deserializes these objects during LDAP authentication or user lookup, it results in remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Artifactory to version 4.11 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, temporarily disable or tightly restrict LDAP integration and implement additional validation on LDAP directory responses.

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
ArtifactoryApplication
Affected:<= 4.10

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:3.0/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 Artifactory installation and version
    Locate the Artifactory installation directory and check the version file or startup logs. Common locations include /opt/jfrog/artifactory or the artifactory-home/conf/artifactory.version file. Run: `artifactory --version` or inspect the version info in the management UI under System Info.
    Affected if Installed version is 4.10 or earlier (less than 4.11)
  2. Verify LDAP integration module is enabled
    Check the artifactory.config.xml or system configuration for LDAP settings. Look for LDAP or activeDirectory sections in $ARTIFACTORY_HOME/etc/artifactory.config.xml or through the Admin > Security > LDAP UI page.
    Affected if LDAP or Active Directory integration is configured and enabled in Artifactory settings
  3. Confirm LDAP authentication is active
    Review the LDAP configuration to determine if user authentication or group synchronization is actively using the LDAP directory. Check if 'Enable LDAP' or similar toggle is set to true in the LDAP settings.
    Affected if LDAP authentication or user lookup is actively used for user provisioning or login
  4. Check Java deserialization handling on LDAP responses
    Inspect the LDAP connector settings and verify if Artifactory is performing deserialization of LDAP attribute values (common in user objectclass attributes or custom attributes). This is an internal behavior but indicates the attack surface exists.
    Affected if LDAP integration performs user lookup that retrieves attributes requiring deserialization (default behavior in affected versions)

User is affected if Artifactory version is 4.10 or earlier AND LDAP integration is enabled and actively used for authentication or user lookup.

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 a release after 4.10
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Artifactory to version 4.11 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, temporarily disable or tightly restrict LDAP integration and implement additional validation on LDAP directory responses.

Recommended fix High confidence

Artifactory 4.11 or later

  1. 1. Back up your Artifactory instance including the database and configuration files
  2. 2. Review the Artifactory upgrade guide at https://www.jfrog.com/confluence/display/JFROG/Upgrading+Artifactory
  3. 3. Download Artifactory 4.11 or later from the official JFrog distribution
  4. 4. Stop the Artifactory service before upgrading
  5. 5. Run the installer or use the appropriate upgrade method for your deployment (zip, docker, or system package)
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify LDAP authentication still functions correctly
  7. 7. Review the release notes for 4.11 to confirm all security fixes are included
  8. 8. Validate that the Artifactory service starts successfully and all repositories are accessible
Caveat Review the 4.11 release notes for any configuration or feature changes that may affect your deployment; major version upgrades may require migration steps

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

Fix this in Artifactory Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6501 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-6501 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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