Security Resilience

CVE-2023-37582

RCE in Apache Rocketmq ≤ 4.9.6

High EPSSRCE
Published
12 July 2023
Modified
23 April 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.90 99.8th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-37582 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Apache Rocketmq. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is an incomplete remediation of a prior remote code execution issue (CVE-2023-33246) that persists in the RocketMQ NameServer component through version 5.1.1. When NameServer addresses are exposed externally without permission checks, an attacker can invoke the update configuration function to inject and execute arbitrary commands. The flaw is tracked as CWE-94 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8.

An unauthenticated remote attacker who discovers a reachable NameServer instance can leverage the configuration update path to run operating-system commands under the privileges of the RocketMQ process account, resulting in full host compromise.

Apache RocketMQ project advisories and the coordinated disclosure on the oss-security list recommend upgrading NameServer to version 5.1.2 or later for the 5.x series and to 4.9.7 or later for the 4.x series. The EPSS score remains near its recorded peak of 0.94 with no material post-disclosure climb from a low baseline.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The RocketMQ NameServer component still has a remote command execution vulnerability as the CVE-2023-33246 issue was not completely fixed in version 5.1.1. When NameServer address are leaked on the extranet and lack permission verification, an attacker can exploit this vulnerability…

more

by using the update configuration function on the NameServer component to execute commands as the system users that RocketMQ is running as. It is recommended for users to upgrade their NameServer version to 5.1.2 or above for RocketMQ 5.x or 4.9.7 or above for RocketMQ 4.x to prevent these attacks.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-33246Same product: Apache Rocketmq
CVE-2025-30067Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-31864Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-49845Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-25077Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-34468Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-50379Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-33042Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2012-0391Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2013-2115Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
rocketmq
≤ 4.9.6 · 5.0.0 — 5.1.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

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Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

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Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

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-94

Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.

addresses: CWE-94

Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.

addresses: CWE-94

Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.

addresses: CWE-94

Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
blocks

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

References