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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 5 Aug 2024.
GeoserverApplication

CVE-2024-36401

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.22.6 / 2.23.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit 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
GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Prior to versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2, multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions. The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to **ALL** GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code. Versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the `gt-complex-x.y.jar` file from the GeoServer where `x.y` is the GeoTools version (e.g., `gt-complex-31.1.jar` if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.

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

GeoServer versions prior to 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a critical RCE vulnerability where OGC request parameters (WFS, WMS, WPS) allow unauthenticated users to execute arbitrary code by injecting XPath expressions through property/attribute names that are unsafely evaluated by the GeoTools library API via commons-jxpath, affecting ALL default GeoServer installations.

MitigationUpgrade to patched versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, or 2.25.2; alternatively, remove the gt-complex-x.y.jar file as a workaround, though this may break functionality or prevent deployment.

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
GeoserverApplication
Affected:< 2.22.6>= 2.23.0, < 2.23.6>= 2.24.0, < 2.24.4>= 2.25.0, < 2.25.2
GeotoolsApplication
Affected:< 29.6>= 30.1, < 30.4>= 31.1, < 31.2= 30.0= 31.0

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 installed GeoServer version
    Check the GeoServer web admin interface under 'About GeoServer' page, or inspect the 'geoserver.war' or the 'geoserver' directory for a version file. Common locations include the 'web.xml' or a 'version.properties' file in the data directory.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 2.22.6, or between 2.23.0 and 2.23.5, or between 2.24.0 and 2.24.3, or between 2.25.0 and 2.25.1
  2. Identify installed GeoTools version
    Inspect the GeoServer 'WEB-INF/lib' directory for the 'gt-' JAR files. The GeoTools version is encoded in the filename, for example 'gt-complex-31.1.jar' indicates GeoTools version 31.1.
    Affected if The installed GeoTools version is less than 29.6, between 30.1 and 30.3, equals 30.0, equals 31.0, or between 31.1 and 31.1 (all versions listed in the affected ranges).
  3. Confirm default installation exposure
    Verify that the GeoServer is running with default settings and the OGC services (WFS, WMS, WPS) are enabled. This is the default configuration for GeoServer installations.
    Affected if GeoServer is installed with default settings and any of the affected OGC service endpoints (WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic, or WPS Execute) are accessible.

You are affected if your GeoServer version falls within the vulnerable ranges (less than 2.22.6, 2.23.0-2.23.5, 2.24.0-2.24.3, or 2.25.0-2.25.1) AND the corresponding GeoTools version is one of the affected versions, and default OGC services are exposed.

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 2.22.6 / 2.23.6 / 2.24.4 or later
Fixed in 2.22.62.23.62.24.4
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to patched versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, or 2.25.2; alternatively, remove the gt-complex-x.y.jar file as a workaround, though this may break functionality or prevent deployment.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to GeoServer 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, or 2.25.2 depending on your current version branch (e.g., 2.22.x -> 2.22.6, 2.23.x -> 2.23.6, 2.24.x -> 2.24.4, 2.25.x -> 2.25.2)

  1. 1. Identify the current GeoServer version by checking the application startup logs or the /geoserver/about/version.xml endpoint
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version (see upgrade_path for target versions)
  3. 3. Back up the current GeoServer configuration, data directory, and any custom configurations
  4. 4. Download the target fixed version of GeoServer from the official GeoServer downloads page (https://geoserver.org/download/)
  5. 5. Stop the running GeoServer instance
  6. 6. Install the new GeoServer version following standard upgrade procedures
  7. 7. Restore the backed-up configuration and data directory to the new installation
  8. 8. Restart GeoServer and verify the application starts successfully
Caveat Standard GeoServer upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for your version branch for any configuration or dependency changes; the gt-complex functionality is preserved in the patch

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

Fix this in Geoserver Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,504.

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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-2024-36401 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
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