Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-29234

CriticalRCE

Published: 15 December 2023

Published
15 December 2023
Modified
13 February 2025
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.8897 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 73 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-29234 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Apache Dubbo. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis

A deserialization vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-29234 affects Apache Dubbo versions 3.1.0 through 3.1.10 and 3.2.0 through 3.2.4. The flaw, assigned CWE-502, occurs when the software decodes a malicious package and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and no required privileges or user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply a crafted serialized payload that the vulnerable Dubbo instance will deserialize, resulting in arbitrary code execution or full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected service.

Public advisories from the Apache project and coordinated disclosure lists state that users should upgrade to the latest patched version of Dubbo, which resolves the deserialization issue. The associated EPSS score stands at 0.8897 with an identical recorded peak, indicating sustained high exploitation probability since disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A deserialization vulnerability existed when decode a malicious package.This issue affects Apache Dubbo: from 3.1.0 through 3.1.10, from 3.2.0 through 3.2.4. Users are recommended to upgrade to the latest version, which fixes the issue.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

apache
dubbo
3.1.0 — 3.1.10 · 3.2.0 — 3.2.4

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-502

Penetration testing supplies malicious serialized objects, detecting unsafe deserialization and supporting corrective actions.

addresses: CWE-502

Evaluation of untrusted data handling (deserialization testing) reveals unsafe processing, which the required remediation process addresses.

addresses: CWE-502

Untrusted serialized data can be deserialized and observed inside the chamber, blocking gadget-chain exploitation outside the sandbox.

addresses: CWE-502

Validates or rejects untrusted serialized data before deserialization occurs.

addresses: CWE-502

Identifies and blocks malicious code introduced through deserialization of untrusted data at system boundaries.

addresses: CWE-502

Integrity verification of serialized information can detect tampering before deserialization occurs.

addresses: CWE-502

Provenance of associated data allows detection of untrusted sources before deserialization or processing occurs.

References