CVE-2021-37578

Remote code execution via RMI

Description

Apache jUDDI uses several classes related to Java's Remote Method Invocation (RMI) which (as an extension to UDDI) provides an alternate transport for accessing UDDI services. RMI uses the default Java serialization mechanism to pass parameters in RMI invocations. A remote attacker can send a malicious serialized object to the above RMI entries. The objects get deserialized without any check on the incoming data. In the worst case, it may let the attacker run arbitrary code remotely. For both jUDDI web service applications and jUDDI clients, the usage of RMI is disabled by default. Since this is an optional feature and an extension to the UDDI protocol, the likelihood of impact is low. Starting with 3.3.10, all RMI related code was removed.

Remediation

Workaround:

  • For the jUDDI service web application, RMI and JNDI service registration is disabled by default. If it was enabled by the system owner, disable it. For jUDDI Clients, do not use RMI Transports. This is an opt-in feature and is not typically used.

Category

9.8
CVSS
Severity: Critical
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 1.83% Top 20%
Third-Party Advisory openwall.com Third-Party Advisory apache.org
Affected: Apache Software Foundation Apache jUDDI
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r82047b3ba774cf870ea8e1e9ec51c6107f6cd056d4e36608148c6e71%40%3Cprivate.juddi.apache.org%3E broken link mailing list third party advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/29/1 third party advisory mailing list

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2021-37578?
CVE-2021-37578 has been scored as a critical severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2021-37578?
As a workaround for remediating CVE-2021-37578: For the jUDDI service web application, RMI and JNDI service registration is disabled by default. If it was enabled by the system owner, disable it. For jUDDI Clients, do not use RMI Transports. This is an opt-in feature and is not typically used.
Is CVE-2021-37578 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2021-37578 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~2% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2021-37578?
CVE-2021-37578 affects Apache Software Foundation Apache jUDDI.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.