Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-66713

RCE in Apache Axis2\/Java ≤ 2.0.1

Published
28 July 2026
Modified
05 August 2026
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 0.010 62th percentile
Risk Priority 75 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-2026-66713 is a critical-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Apache Axis2\/Java. 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 38% 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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) in the Tribes-based clustering component in Apache Software Foundation Apache Axis2/Java through 2.0.0 on Apache Tomcat (only when Tribes clustering is enabled, which is off by default) allows an unauthenticated remote attacker with network access…

more

to the clustering port to execute arbitrary code via a crafted serialized Java object delivered to the cluster channel and deserialized in org.apache.axis2.clustering.tribes.Axis2ChannelListener#messageReceived. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.0.1, which fixes this issue by removing the clustering feature entirely.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-47552Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2021-40865Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2023-26464Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-42779Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-54539Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-58782Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2024-22399Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-54920Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2025-27526Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-47065Same vendor: Apache

Affected Assets

apache
axis2\/java
≤ 2.0.1

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 none match
prevents

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.

prevents

Requiring vetted libraries, regular updates and SAST before release reduces the likelihood that deserialization logic will accept and act on attacker-controlled serialized objects.

finds

Security testing includes validation of deserialization routines and the use of untrusted data, reducing the likelihood that unsafe object reconstruction will be deployed.

finds

Regular scanning of third-party libraries and timely patching reduce the likelihood that unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities remain active.

References