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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 Jun 2022. Known ransomware use
Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2017-12149

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-10-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware High EPSS 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
In Jboss Application Server as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 5.2, it was found that the doFilter method in the ReadOnlyAccessFilter of the HTTP Invoker does not restrict classes for which it performs deserialization and thus allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code via crafted serialized data.

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

A deserialization vulnerability in JBoss Application Server's ReadOnlyAccessFilter allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by sending crafted serialized Java objects through the HTTP Invoker service, which lacks class restrictions on deserialization.

MitigationRestrict deserialization classes in the HTTP Invoker filter, disable the ReadOnlyAccessFilter if not needed, or upgrade to a patched JBoss version.

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 Application PlatformApplication
Affected:all versions= 5.0.0= 5.0.1= 5.1.0= 5.1.1= 5.1.2= 5.2.0= 5.2.1= 5.2.2

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 JBoss installation and version
    Check for JBoss installation directories and version files. Common paths include $JBOSS_HOME/bin/run.sh or check for jbossas.jar in the installation. Look for version.info, manifest files, or execute: ls -la $JBOSS_HOME/ and find $JBOSS_HOME -name '*.jar' | grep -i jboss
    Affected if The installed version matches any of: 5.0.0, 5.0.1, 5.1.0, 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.2.0, 5.2.1, 5.2.2, or is an unnamed 'all versions' variant of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5.x
  2. Locate the ReadOnlyAccessFilter class
    Search for the vulnerable ReadOnlyAccessFilter class in the JBoss installation. Run: find $JBOSS_HOME -name 'ReadOnlyAccessFilter*' -o -name '*ReadOnlyAccessFilter*'. This filter is typically in jboss-web.jar or the web module.
    Affected if The ReadOnlyAccessFilter class exists in the JBoss installation, indicating the vulnerable component is present
  3. Verify the vulnerable endpoint is accessible
    Check if the /readonly path is exposed. Test with: curl -i http://localhost:8080/readonly or nc -zv localhost 8080. The vulnerability is exploitable when this filter handles requests.
    Affected if The /readonly endpoint responds (returns any HTTP status code other than 404), meaning the filter is active and processing requests
  4. Check for deserialization filters or Java serialization config
    Inspect the web.xml descriptor for filter mappings: grep -r 'ReadOnlyAccessFilter' $JBOSS_HOME/server/*/deploy/jboss-web.deployer/conf/web.xml. Also check for presence of Java deserialization configuration in jboss-service.xml or server configuration files.
    Affected if The ReadOnlyAccessFilter is mapped in web.xml without class restrictions, or no deserialization whitelist is configured in the server configuration

If JBoss EAP version 5.x is installed (specifically 5.0.0-5.2.2 or any version labeled as 'all versions') AND the ReadOnlyAccessFilter is present and accessible via the /readonly endpoint, the environment is affected by CVE-2017-12149.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict deserialization classes in the HTTP Invoker filter, disable the ReadOnlyAccessFilter if not needed, or upgrade to a patched JBoss version.

Recommended fix High confidence

JBoss EAP 5.2.0 or later (or migrate to supported JBoss EAP 6.x/7.x/8.x)

  1. 1. Verify the vulnerable JBoss EAP installation and confirm the HTTP Invoker service is accessible at /invoker/readonly
  2. 2. Identify the current JBoss EAP version by checking the release.txt or version files in the installation directory
  3. 3. For JBoss EAP 5.x: Upgrade to JBoss EAP 5.2.0 or later (latest available 5.x patch) which contains the security fix for CVE-2017-12149
  4. 4. Alternatively, migrate to a currently supported JBoss EAP version (6.x, 7.x, or 8.x) which is the recommended long-term solution
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the HTTP Invoker filter now properly restricts deserialization to allowed classes only
  6. 6. As an additional precaution, verify that the /invoker/* path is not exposed to untrusted networks
Caveat Minor: Ensure any custom serialized objects used with HTTP Invoker are compatible with the class restrictions in the patched version; if migrating to 6.x/7.x/8.x, review API and configuration changes between major versions

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

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Application Platform Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,600
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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-2017-12149 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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