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DubboApplication · Apache

CVE-2021-30179

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.6.9 / 2.7.10 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
Apache Dubbo prior to 2.6.9 and 2.7.9 by default supports generic calls to arbitrary methods exposed by provider interfaces. These invocations are handled by the GenericFilter which will find the service and method specified in the first arguments of the invocation and use the Java Reflection API to make the final call. The signature for the $invoke or $invokeAsync methods is Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/Object; where the first argument is the name of the method to invoke, the second one is an array with the parameter types for the method being invoked and the third one is an array with the actual call arguments. In addition, the caller also needs to set an RPC attachment specifying that the call is a generic call and how to decode the arguments. The possible values are: - true - raw.return - nativejava - bean - protobuf-json An attacker can control this RPC attachment and set it to nativejava to force the java deserialization of the byte array located in the third argument.

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

Apache Dubbo's GenericFilter allows unauthenticated attackers to invoke arbitrary methods via the $invoke/$invokeAsync generic call interface. By setting the RPC attachment to 'nativejava', attackers trigger unsafe Java deserialization of attacker-controlled byte arrays in the third argument, leading to remote code execution.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Dubbo to version 2.6.9 or 2.7.9 or later, or disable generic call functionality if not required in production environments.

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
DubboApplication
Affected:>= 2.5.0, <= 2.5.10>= 2.6.0, < 2.6.9>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.10

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:3.1/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 Dubbo version
    Locate the Dubbo JAR files or dependency declaration (pom.xml, build.gradle) and note the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version falls within >= 2.5.0 and <= 2.5.10, or >= 2.6.0 and < 2.6.9, or >= 2.7.0 and < 2.7.10
  2. Verify GenericFilter is active
    Check the Dubbo service configuration or application logs for the GenericFilter class loading; examine web.xml, spring configuration files, or annotation-based configurations for Dubbo service exports
    Affected if GenericFilter is loaded and the application exposes Dubbo RPC services
  3. Confirm generic invocation is enabled
    Review Dubbo configuration files (dubbo.properties, application.yml, or XML bean definitions) for generic service exposure settings; check if any service interface uses generic="true" or accepts generic calls
    Affected if Generic service calls ($invoke/$invokeAsync) are permitted in the configuration
  4. Check serialization settings for generic calls
    Examine the dubbo.remoting or dubbo.protocol configuration section for the serialization protocol; verify if nativejava serialization is listed as an allowed method
    Affected if The 'nativejava' serialization is enabled or allowed in the serialization protocol settings

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Dubbo version (2.5.0-2.5.10, 2.6.0-2.6.8, or 2.7.0-2.7.9) with GenericFilter active and generic call functionality exposed, particularly if nativejava serialization is permitted.

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 2.6.9 / 2.7.10 or later
Fixed in 2.6.92.7.10
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Dubbo to version 2.6.9 or 2.7.9 or later, or disable generic call functionality if not required in production environments.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.6.9 or 2.7.10 (depending on major version line in use)

  1. Upgrade to Dubbo 2.6.9 or later if using the 2.6.x line
  2. Upgrade to Dubbo 2.7.10 or later if using the 2.7.x line
  3. For legacy 2.5.x deployments, migrate to a supported version (2.6.9+ or 2.7.10+) as 2.5.x is no longer maintained
  4. After upgrading, verify that generic calls require proper authentication and are not exposed to untrusted networks
Caveat Upgrading across major version lines (e.g., 2.5.x to 2.7.x) may require compatibility testing for API changes and configuration differences

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

Fix this in Dubbo Scoped from the published advisory
  • 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-2021-30179 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