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Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2018-14721

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.6.7.2 / 2.7.9.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
FasterXML jackson-databind 2.x before 2.9.7 might allow remote attackers to conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks by leveraging failure to block the axis2-jaxws class from polymorphic deserialization.

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

FasterXML jackson-databind versions 2.x before 2.9.7 failed to block the axis2-jaxws class from polymorphic deserialization, allowing attackers to abuse this class to make the server perform arbitrary HTTP requests to internal services (SSRF). This is a known gadget chain exploitation in the Jackson deserialization attack surface.

MitigationUpgrade jackson-databind to version 2.9.7 or later. Additionally, enable 'defaultTyping' controls or use the 'jackson.databind.blockUntyped' setting to restrict polymorphic deserialization to only expected types.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0
Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication
Affected:= 7.2.0
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 3.11
Jackson DatabindApplication
Affected:>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.7.2>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.9.5>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.11.3>= 2.9.0, < 2.9.7= 2.7.0= 2.8.0= 2.9.0
Banking PlatformApplication
Affected:= 2.5.0= 2.6.0= 2.6.1= 2.6.2
Communications Billing And Revenue ManagementApplication
Affected:= 7.5= 12.0
Enterprise Manager For VirtualizationApplication
Affected:= 13.2.2= 13.2.3= 13.3.1
Financial Services Analytical Applications InfrastructureApplication
Affected:= 8.0.2= 8.0.3= 8.0.4= 8.0.5= 8.0.6= 8.0.7

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 jackson-databind version
    Run 'mvn dependency:tree 2>/dev/null | grep jackson-databind' for Maven projects, or inspect the jackson-databind JAR file name and MANIFEST.MF for version info, or call com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.Version.getVersion() in code
    Affected if Version is 2.6.0 through 2.6.7.1, 2.7.0 through 2.7.9.4, 2.8.0 through 2.8.11.2, or 2.9.0 through 2.9.6
  2. Verify axis2-jaxws library is present
    Search the classpath for axis2-jaxws JAR file, or run 'find . -name "*axis2-jaxws*"' to locate it
    Affected if The axis2-jaxws library exists in the application's classpath
  3. Check for polymorphic deserialization enablement
    Search code and configuration for 'ObjectMapper.enableDefaultTyping()', '@JsonTypeInfo' with 'USE' or 'defaultTyping' settings, or 'jackson.databind.defaultTyping' property
    Affected if Default typing or any polymorphic type handling is enabled on the ObjectMapper, allowing deserialization of untrusted JSON into arbitrary Java types
  4. Confirm deserialization of untrusted JSON occurs
    Review application code to verify that Jackson ObjectMapper is used to deserialize JSON from external or untrusted sources (REST endpoints, message queues, file uploads)
    Affected if The application deserializes JSON from untrusted or external sources using the configured ObjectMapper

The environment is affected if a vulnerable jackson-databind version (2.6.0-2.6.7.1, 2.7.0-2.7.9.4, 2.8.0-2.8.11.2, or 2.9.0-2.9.6) is in use, the axis2-jaxws library is present in the classpath, and polymorphic deserialization via defaultTyping is enabled while processing untrusted JSON input.

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 2.6.7.2 / 2.7.9.5 / 2.8.11.3 or later
Fixed in 2.6.7.22.7.9.52.8.11.3
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade jackson-databind to version 2.9.7 or later. Additionally, enable 'defaultTyping' controls or use the 'jackson.databind.blockUntyped' setting to restrict polymorphic deserialization to only expected types.

Recommended fix High confidence

jackson-databind 2.9.7 or later (or latest 2.x stable)

  1. Identify the current jackson-databind version in your project dependencies (e.g., in pom.xml, build.gradle, or package.json)
  2. Update the jackson-databind dependency to version 2.9.7 or later (recommended: latest 2.x stable release)
  3. For older branches using 2.6.x, upgrade to 2.6.7.2 or later; for 2.7.x upgrade to 2.7.9.5 or later; for 2.8.x upgrade to 2.8.11.3 or later
  4. Run build and execute comprehensive tests to verify the upgrade does not break existing functionality
  5. Redeploy the updated application
Caveat Minor: Upgrading across major version jumps (e.g., 2.6 to 2.9) may introduce subtle API behavior changes; test thoroughly

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

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,200
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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-2018-14721 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data