Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2025-54539 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Apache Activemq Nms Amqp. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 20% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-54539 is a Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability (CWE-502) in the Apache ActiveMQ NMS AMQP Client. It affects all versions up to and including 2.3.0, specifically when the client establishes connections to untrusted AMQP servers. The flaw stems from unbounded deserialization logic in the client, which malicious servers can exploit by crafting responses that lead to arbitrary code execution on the client side. Although version 2.1.0 introduced allow/deny lists to restrict deserialization, this protection is bypassable under certain conditions. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
An attacker controlling an untrusted AMQP server can exploit this issue against clients connecting to it. No special privileges or user interaction are required, enabling remote exploitation over the network with low complexity. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary code execution on the victim's machine, potentially leading to full compromise of the client system.
Advisories recommend upgrading to version 2.4.0 or later, which resolves the vulnerability. As a long-term hardening strategy, projects using NMS-AMQP should migrate away from .NET binary serialization, aligning with Microsoft’s deprecation of it in .NET 9; the project is evaluating its full removal from the NMS API in future releases. Details are available in the Apache announcement at https://lists.apache.org/thread/9k684j07ljrshy3hxwhj5m0xjmkz1g2n and the OSS-Security mailing list at http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/10/15/3.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-34726
Vulnerability Data
A Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability exists in the Apache ActiveMQ NMS AMQP Client. This issue affects all versions of Apache ActiveMQ NMS AMQP up to and including 2.3.0, when establishing connections to untrusted AMQP servers. Malicious servers could exploit…
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unbounded deserialization logic present in the client to craft responses that may lead to arbitrary code execution on the client side. Although version 2.1.0 introduced a mechanism to restrict deserialization via allow/deny lists, the protection was found to be bypassable under certain conditions. In line with Microsoft’s deprecation of binary serialization in .NET 9, the project is evaluating the removal of .NET binary serialization support from the NMS API entirely in future releases. Mitigation and Recommendations: Users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to version 2.4.0 or later, which resolves the issue. Additionally, projects depending on NMS-AMQP should migrate away from .NET binary serialization as part of a long-term hardening strategy.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can uncover deserialization flaws before deployment.
Input validation directly stops deserialization of untrusted data by ensuring inputs are valid before processing.
Engineering principles such as safe deserialization and input sanitization structurally prevent the weakness from being introduced.
Integrity verification tools can detect malformed or tampered serialized data after the fact.
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-02 addresses only post-deployment updates/patching and cannot prevent introduction of unsafe deserialization code, yet it can remediate some instances when the flaw exists in outdated libraries or components.
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.
Security testing includes validation of deserialization routines and the use of untrusted data, reducing the likelihood that unsafe object reconstruction will be deployed.
Requiring vetted libraries, regular updates and SAST before release reduces the likelihood that deserialization logic will accept and act on attacker-controlled serialized objects.
Regular scanning of third-party libraries and timely patching reduce the likelihood that unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities remain active.