CVE-2019-0187: ApacheJMeter Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-wg37-7mrv-cfwm
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-502 CWE-327
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-0187 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data) affecting ApacheJMeter libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves unauthenticated remote code execution in apache jmeter. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.1.

CVE-2019-0187 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-0187
GHSA Identifier GHSA-wg37-7mrv-cfwm
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Affected Product ApacheJMeter
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:3.0/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-2019-0187

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected ApacheJMeter 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.jmeter:ApacheJMeter fixed: 5.1 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.jmeter</groupId>
    <artifactId>ApacheJMeter</artifactId>
    <version>5.1</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.jmeter

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2019-0187, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

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

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of ApacheJMeter in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.1), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.jmeter 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 ApacheJMeter, 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

Unauthenticated RCE is possible when JMeter is used in distributed mode (-r or -R command line options). Attacker can establish a RMI connection to a jmeter-server using RemoteJMeterEngine and proceed with an attack using untrusted data deserialization. This only affect tests running in Distributed mode. Note that versions before 4.0 are not able to encrypt traffic between the nodes, nor authenticate the participating nodes so upgrade to JMeter 5.1 is also advised.

CVE-2019-0187 Affected ApacheJMeter Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
5.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.apache.jmeter:ApacheJMeter
maven/org.apache.jmeter/ApacheJMeter
Maven
< 5.1
5.1

References

NVD — CVE-2019-0187 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-0187
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wg37-7mrv-cfwm
mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/jmeter-use... WEB
http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/jmeter-user/201903.mbox/%3CCAH9fUpaUQaFbgY1Zh4OvKSL4wdvGAmVt%2Bn4fegibDoAxK5XARw%40mail.gmail.com%3E
ApacheJMeter Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/107219

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-0187?
CVE-2019-0187 is a security vulnerability in ApacheJMeter involving Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution in Apache JMeter under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.
Which ApacheJMeter versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 5.1 across affected packages: org.apache.jmeter:ApacheJMeter.
What version fixes CVE-2019-0187?
Upgrading to 5.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is ApacheJMeter affected?
Yes, org.apache.jmeter:ApacheJMeter is affected in releases prior to 5.1. Upgrade your dependency to 5.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-0187?
CVE-2019-0187 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-0187?
CVE-2019-0187 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-2019-0187?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.jmeter'. 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-wg37-7mrv-cfwm",
  "modified" : "2022-09-14T22:45:15Z",
  "published" : "2019-03-07T18:47:57Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-0187" ],
  "summary" : "Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution in Apache JMeter",
  "details" : "Unauthenticated RCE is possible when JMeter is used in distributed mode (-r or -R command line options). Attacker can establish a RMI connection to a jmeter-server using RemoteJMeterEngine and proceed with an attack using untrusted data deserialization. This only affect tests running in Distributed mode. Note that versions before 4.0 are not able to encrypt traffic between the nodes, nor authenticate the participating nodes so upgrade to JMeter 5.1 is also advised.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.apache.jmeter:ApacheJMeter"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "5.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-0187"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wg37-7mrv-cfwm"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://mail-archives.apache.org/mod_mbox/jmeter-user/201903.mbox/%3CCAH9fUpaUQaFbgY1Zh4OvKSL4wdvGAmVt%2Bn4fegibDoAxK5XARw%40mail.gmail.com%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/107219"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-327", "CWE-502" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T22:00:15Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}