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DdlutilsApplication · Apache

CVE-2021-41616

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-09-30
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
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 DB DdlUtils 1.0 included a BinaryObjectsHelper that was intended for use when migrating database data with a SQL data type of BINARY, VARBINARY, LONGVARBINARY, or BLOB between databases using the ddlutils features. The BinaryObjectsHelper class was insecure and used ObjectInputStream.readObject without validating that the input data was safe to deserialize. Please note that DdlUtils is no longer being actively developed. To address the insecurity of the BinaryObjectHelper class, the following changes to DdlUtils have been made: (1) BinaryObjectsHelper.java has been deleted from the DdlUtils source repository and the DdlUtils feature of propagating data of SQL binary types is therefore no longer present in DdlUtils; (2) The ddlutils-1.0 release has been removed from the Apache Release Distribution Infrastructure; (3) The DdlUtils web site has been updated to indicate that DdlUtils is now available only as source code, not as a packaged release.

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 DdlUtils 1.0 contained an insecure deserialization vulnerability in the BinaryObjectsHelper class, which used ObjectInputStream.readObject without validating input when migrating data with SQL binary types (BINARY, VARBINARY, LONGVARBINARY, BLOB). This allowed remote code execution. The vulnerable class and entire feature have been removed from DdlUtils.

MitigationRemove the DdlUtils 1.0 dependency entirely from any affected applications; if binary data migration capability is needed, implement an alternative solution that does not use Java object serialization.

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
DdlutilsApplication
Affected:= 1.0

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 DdlUtils 1.0 in dependencies
    Search your project build files (pom.xml, build.gradle), lib directories, and WAR/EAR archives for the DdlUtils 1.0 JAR file
    Affected if Apache DdlUtils version 1.0 is present in the project dependencies or classpath
  2. Locate the BinaryObjectsHelper class
    Search the compiled classes or JAR files for the class named 'BinaryObjectsHelper' in the org.apache.ddlutils package
    Affected if The BinaryObjectsHelper class exists in the runtime classpath
  3. Detect binary column migration usage
    Review application code and configuration for usage of DdlUtils schema reading/writing operations involving BINARY, VARBINARY, LONGVARBINARY, or BLOB column types
    Affected if The application uses DdlUtils to read or write database schemas containing binary column types
  4. Check for deserialization gadget usage
    Analyze network traffic or application logs for serialization/deserialization operations when DdlUtils processes binary data from databases
    Affected if DdlUtils is actively processing binary data from SQL queries or writing binary data to databases using object serialization

A user is affected if Apache DdlUtils 1.0 is present in the application and the binary column migration feature is being used to read or write BINARY, VARBINARY, LONGVARBINARY, or BLOB data types.

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

Remove the DdlUtils 1.0 dependency entirely from any affected applications; if binary data migration capability is needed, implement an alternative solution that does not use Java object serialization.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. 1. Discontinue use of Apache DdlUtils 1.0 as it is no longer maintained or distributed.
  2. 2. The vulnerable BinaryObjectsHelper class has been deleted from the source repository; the feature for propagating SQL binary type data no longer exists.
  3. 3. Since DdlUtils 1.0 release has been removed from Apache's distribution infrastructure, obtain the current source code only from the Apache DdlUtils source repository if absolutely necessary.
  4. 4. If you must use DdlUtils, review any deserialization implementation in your code that interacts with ObjectInputStream and ensure input validation is applied.
  5. 5. Consider migrating to actively maintained alternatives for database schema and data migration tasks.
Caveat No patched release exists; DdlUtils 1.0 was removed entirely. The project is no longer actively developed.

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

Fix this in Ddlutils Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2021-41616 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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