CVE-2016-7065 in JBoss Enterprise Application Platform
Summary
by MITRE
The JMX servlet in Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (EAP) 4 and 5 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a crafted serialized Java object.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/22/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-7065 represents a critical security flaw in the Java Management Extensions (JMX) servlet component of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform versions 4 and 5. This vulnerability resides within the application server's management interface and affects organizations utilizing these legacy versions of the platform. The issue stems from insufficient validation of serialized Java objects processed through the JMX servlet, creating a dangerous attack surface that can be exploited by authenticated remote adversaries.
The technical flaw manifests in the improper deserialization of Java objects within the JMX servlet implementation. When authenticated users send specially crafted serialized Java objects to the vulnerable endpoint, the application fails to adequately validate or sanitize these inputs before processing them. This deserialization vulnerability enables attackers to manipulate the object creation process and potentially execute arbitrary code on the target system. The vulnerability operates at the core of Java's serialization mechanism where untrusted data can be used to instantiate objects and execute code during the deserialization process, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where JMX is commonly used for application monitoring and management.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service conditions to include potential remote code execution capabilities. Attackers who can authenticate to the JMX servlet interface can leverage this flaw to compromise the entire application server, potentially gaining access to sensitive data, escalating privileges, or using the compromised system as a foothold for further attacks within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability affects organizations running legacy JBoss EAP versions that may not receive regular security updates, making them particularly susceptible to exploitation. This type of vulnerability directly maps to CWE-502, which specifically addresses deserialization of untrusted data, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for remote code execution through application layer vulnerabilities.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to supported versions of JBoss EAP that contain patches for this vulnerability, disabling the JMX servlet if not required for operations, and implementing network segmentation to limit access to the affected components. Security teams should also consider implementing application firewalls or intrusion prevention systems that can detect and block suspicious serialized object traffic. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify all instances of affected JBoss EAP versions and ensure proper access controls are in place to limit authentication to only trusted administrators. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and secure coding practices in enterprise application servers, particularly when handling serialized data from external sources.