CVE-2021-30179: Dubbo Deserialization Of Untrusted Data Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5mc7-m686-p6jg
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-502
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-30179 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability (CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data) affecting Dubbo libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves deserialization of untrusted data in apache dubbo. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.7.10, 2.6.9.

CVE-2021-30179 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-30179
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5mc7-m686-p6jg
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Affected Product Dubbo
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-30179

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Dubbo dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

org.apache.dubbo:dubbo fixed: 2.7.10 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.dubbo</groupId>
    <artifactId>dubbo</artifactId>
    <version>2.7.10</version>
</dependency>
com.alibaba:dubbo fixed: 2.6.9 
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.alibaba</groupId>
    <artifactId>dubbo</artifactId>
    <version>2.6.9</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.dubbo

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-30179, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.dubbo

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Dubbo in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.7.10), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.dubbo command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data, where the product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid. In Dubbo, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Apache Dubbo prior to 2.6.9 and 2.7.10 by default supports generic calls to arbitrary methods exposed by provider interfaces. These invocations are handled by the GenericFilter which will find the service and method specified in the first arguments of the invocation and use the Java Reflection API to make the final call. The signature for the $invoke or $invokeAsync methods is Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/Object; where the first argument is the name of the method to invoke, the second one is an array with the parameter types for the method being invoked and the third one is an array with the actual call arguments. In addition, the caller also needs to set an RPC attachment specifying that the call is a generic call and how to decode the arguments. The possible values are: - true - raw.return - nativejava - bean - protobuf-json An attacker can control this RPC attachment and set it to nativejava to force the java deserialization of the byte array located in the third argument.

CVE-2021-30179 Affected Dubbo Versions

2 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.7.102.6.9
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.apache.dubbo:dubbo
maven/org.apache.dubbo/dubbo
Maven
≥ 2.5.0
< 2.7.10
2.7.10
com.alibaba:dubbo
maven/com.alibaba/dubbo
Maven
≥ 2.5.0
< 2.6.9
2.6.9

References

NVD — CVE-2021-30179 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-30179
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbd... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbdd6593e42ea3a1e8fedd12807cb111375c9c40edb005ef36f67%40%3Cdev.dubbo.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbd... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbdd6593e42ea3a1e8fedd12807cb111375c9c40edb005ef36f67@%3Cdev.dubbo.apache.org%3E

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-30179?
CVE-2021-30179 is a security vulnerability in Dubbo involving Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache Dubbo under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.
Which Dubbo versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.7.10, 2.6.9 across affected packages: org.apache.dubbo:dubbo, com.alibaba:dubbo.
What version fixes CVE-2021-30179?
Upgrading to 2.7.10, 2.6.9 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is dubbo affected?
Yes, org.apache.dubbo:dubbo is affected in releases prior to 2.7.10, 2.6.9. Upgrade your dependency to 2.7.10, 2.6.9 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-30179?
CVE-2021-30179 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-30179?
CVE-2021-30179 is classified under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data (The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-30179?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.dubbo'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5mc7-m686-p6jg",
  "modified" : "2022-03-18T17:57:32Z",
  "published" : "2022-03-18T17:57:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-30179" ],
  "summary" : "Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache Dubbo",
  "details" : "Apache Dubbo prior to 2.6.9 and 2.7.10 by default supports generic calls to arbitrary methods exposed by provider interfaces. These invocations are handled by the GenericFilter which will find the service and method specified in the first arguments of the invocation and use the Java Reflection API to make the final call. The signature for the $invoke or $invokeAsync methods is Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/Object; where the first argument is the name of the method to invoke, the second one is an array with the parameter types for the method being invoked and the third one is an array with the actual call arguments. In addition, the caller also needs to set an RPC attachment specifying that the call is a generic call and how to decode the arguments. The possible values are: - true - raw.return - nativejava - bean - protobuf-json An attacker can control this RPC attachment and set it to nativejava to force the java deserialization of the byte array located in the third argument.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.apache.dubbo:dubbo"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.5.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.7.10"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.alibaba:dubbo"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.5.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.6.9"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-30179"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbdd6593e42ea3a1e8fedd12807cb111375c9c40edb005ef36f67%40%3Cdev.dubbo.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rccbcbdd6593e42ea3a1e8fedd12807cb111375c9c40edb005ef36f67@%3Cdev.dubbo.apache.org%3E"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-502" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-06-02T20:18:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-06-01T14:15:00Z"
  }
}