Data GridApplication · Redhat
CVE-2023-5236
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 · uneditedA flaw was found in Infinispan, which does not detect circular object references when unmarshalling. An authenticated attacker with sufficient permissions could insert a maliciously constructed object into the cache and use it to cause out of memory errors and achieve a denial of service.
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 · moderate confidenceInfinispan fails to detect circular object references during unmarshalling operations. An authenticated attacker with cache write permissions can insert specially crafted objects containing circular references, causing repeated object instantiation during deserialization that leads to heap exhaustion and denial of service.
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
Data GridApplication
< 8.4.4
Jboss Data GridApplication
all versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Infinispan is runningCheck for Java processes running Infinispan or JBoss Data Grid: `ps aux | grep -i infinispan` or `jps -l` look for org.infinispan, org.jboss.as, or InfinispanServer entriesAffected if Infinispan or Red Hat Data Grid processes are found running
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Determine installed Infinispan versionCheck the Infinispan JAR version in the installation directory, or look at server logs on startup which display the version, or check RPM/package manager: `rpm -q jboss-datagrid-infinispan` or similarAffected if Version is lower than 8.4.4 for Red Hat Data Grid, or is any version of Infinispan or JBoss Data Grid
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Verify cache access is exposed remotelyCheck configuration files (infinispan.xml, standalone.xml) for exposed endpoints: Hot Rod (port 11222), memcached, REST, or remoting endpoints that accept serialized objectsAffected if Remote cache endpoints are enabled and accessible over network
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Confirm authentication is not enforcing write restrictionsReview security configuration for cache authorization: check <authorization> sections in Infinispan config and ensure write permissions require proper authenticationAffected if Cache write permissions are granted to authenticated users without additional cycle detection in custom deserializers
You are affected if Infinispan or Red Hat/JBoss Data Grid is running with a version in the affected range AND remote cache write access is available to authenticated users without cycle detection in the unmarshalling path.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped8.4.4
Upgrade to a version that implements circular reference detection in the unmarshalling process, or implement object graph depth limiting/cycle detection in custom unmarshallers if a patch is unavailable.
8.4.4 or later
- Upgrade Red Hat Data Grid (or Infinispan) to version 8.4.4 or later to receive the fix for circular object reference detection during unmarshalling
- After upgrade, verify that caches are functioning correctly and monitor for any OOM errors
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Data Grid
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation24.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,016.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-5236 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-5236 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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