Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-60021

RCE in Apache Brpc 1.11.0 – 1.15.0

RCECommand Injection
Published
16 January 2026
Modified
21 January 2026
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.24 98th percentile
Risk Priority 85 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-60021 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Apache Brpc. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 2% 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-2025-60021 is a remote command injection vulnerability (CWE-77) in the heap profiler built-in service of Apache bRPC, affecting all versions prior to 1.15.0 across all platforms. The root cause lies in the /pprof/heap endpoint, which fails to validate the user-provided extra_options parameter and instead executes it directly as a command-line argument during jemalloc memory profiling operations.

An unauthenticated remote attacker with network access to the vulnerable service can exploit this issue by crafting a malicious request to /pprof/heap, enabling arbitrary command execution on the target system. 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), reflecting its critical severity and potential for high-impact compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Apache advisories recommend upgrading to bRPC version 1.15.0 or manually applying the patch from https://github.com/apache/brpc/pull/3101 as primary mitigations. Additional details appear in the Apache mailing list announcement at https://lists.apache.org/thread/xy51d2fx6drzhfp92xptsx5845q7b37m and the OSS-Security posting at http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/16/4.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Remote command injection vulnerability in heap profiler builtin service in Apache bRPC ((all versions < 1.15.0)) on all platforms allows attacker to inject remote command. Root Cause: The bRPC heap profiler built-in service (/pprof/heap) does not validate the user-provided extra_options…

more

parameter and executes it as a command-line argument. Attackers can execute remote commands using the extra_options parameter.. Affected scenarios: Use the built-in bRPC heap profiler service to perform jemalloc memory profiling. How to Fix: we provide two methods, you can choose one of them: 1. Upgrade bRPC to version 1.15.0. 2. Apply this patch ( https://github.com/apache/brpc/pull/3101 ) manually.

CWE(s)
CWE-77

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-31039Same product: Apache Brpc
CVE-2025-54472Same product: Apache Brpc
CVE-2024-23452Same product: Apache Brpc
CVE-2023-45757Same product: Apache Brpc
CVE-2024-45505Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-49898Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-32007Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-52291Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-29737Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-28935Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
brpc
1.11.0 — 1.15.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

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
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References