GeoServer up to 2.23.5/2.24.3/2.25.1 OGC Request eval injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in GeoServer up to 2.23.5/2.24.3/2.25.1. Impacted is an unknown function of the component OGC Request Handler. Performing a manipulation results in eval injection. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2024-36401. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Furthermore, there is an exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical has been found in GeoServer up to 2.23.5/2.24.3/2.25.1. This affects an unknown code of the component OGC Request Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a eval injection vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-95. The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes code syntax before using the input in a dynamic evaluation call (e.g. "eval"). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Prior to versions 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2, multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions. The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to **ALL** GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code. Versions 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the `gt-complex-x.y.jar` file from the GeoServer where `x.y` is the GeoTools version (e.g., `gt-complex-31.1.jar` if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.

It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2024-36401 since 05/27/2024. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/31/2025).

The exploit is shared for download at packetstormsecurity.com. It is declared as attacked. The CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog lists this issue since 07/15/2024 with a due date of 08/05/2024:

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Upgrading to version 2.23.6, 2.24.4 or 2.25.2 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at 0day.today (39682) and CNNVD (CNNVD-202407-085). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

• GeoServer

Version

• 2.23.0
• 2.23.1
• 2.23.2
• 2.23.3
• 2.23.4
• 2.23.5
• 2.24.0
• 2.24.1
• 2.24.2
• 2.24.3
• 2.25.0
• 2.25.1

Website

• Product: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/

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