Vulnerabilities in pkg:maven/org.apache.commons/commons-collections4

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-6hgm-866r-3cjv
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Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-6420 is a HIGH insecure deserialization vulnerability (CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data) affecting Commons collections4 libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves insecure deserialization in apache commons collection. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.1, 3.2.2.

2 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:maven/org.apache.commons/commons-collections4

2 Known Advisory Record(s)

Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:maven/org.apache.commons/commons-collections4. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-6hgm-866r-3cjv CVE-2015-6420 HIGH Insecure Deserialization in Apache Commons Collection
GHSA-fjq5-5j5f-mvxh CVE-2015-7501 CRITICAL Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache commons collections

CVE-2015-6420 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-6420
GHSA Identifier GHSA-6hgm-866r-3cjv
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Affected Product Commons collections4
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2015-6420

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Commons collections4 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.commons:commons-collections4 fixed: 4.1 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
    <artifactId>commons-collections4</artifactId>
    <version>4.1</version>
</dependency>
commons-collections:commons-collections fixed: 3.2.2 
<dependency>
    <groupId>commons-collections</groupId>
    <artifactId>commons-collections</artifactId>
    <version>3.2.2</version>
</dependency>
net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>net.sourceforge.collections</groupId>
    <artifactId>collections-generic</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</version>
</dependency>
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.servicemix.bundles</groupId>
    <artifactId>org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</version>
</dependency>
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.servicemix.bundles</groupId>
    <artifactId>org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</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.commons

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2015-6420, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

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

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Commons collections4 in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.1), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.commons 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 Commons collections4, 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

Serialized-object interfaces in Java applications using the Apache Commons Collections (ACC) library may allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object.

CVE-2015-6420 Affected Commons collections4 Versions

5 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.13.2.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.apache.commons:commons-collections4
maven/org.apache.commons/commons-collections4
Maven
< 4.1
4.1
commons-collections:commons-collections
maven/commons-collections/commons-collections
Maven
< 3.2.2
3.2.2
net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic
maven/net.sourceforge.collections/collections-generic
Maven
≤ 4.0.1
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic
maven/org.apache.servicemix.bundles/org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic
Maven
≤ 4.01
org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections
maven/org.apache.servicemix.bundles/org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections
Maven
≤ 3.2.1

References

NVD — CVE-2015-6420 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-6420
arxiv.org/pdf/2306.05534 WEB
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2306.05534
Commons collections4 Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/apache/commons-collections
h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/pu... WEB
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05376917
h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/pu... WEB
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05390722
lists.apache.org/thread.html/r352e40... WEB
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r352e40ca9874d1beb4ad95403792adca7eb295e6bc3bd7b65fabcc21@%3Ccommits.samza.apache.org%3E
www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/581311 WEB
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/581311
Commons collections4 Security Information SECURITY
https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2017-14
Commons collections4 Security Information SECURITY
https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2017-23
Commons collections4 Security Information SECURITY
http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20151209-java-deserialization
Commons collections4 Security Information SECURITY
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2018-4258247.html
Commons collections4 Security Information SECURITY
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78872

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-6420?
CVE-2015-6420 is a security vulnerability in Commons collections4 involving Insecure Deserialization in Apache Commons Collection under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.
Which Commons collections4 versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.1, 3.2.2 across affected packages: org.apache.commons:commons-collections4, commons-collections:commons-collections, net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic, org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic, org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections.
What version fixes CVE-2015-6420?
Upgrading to 4.1, 3.2.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is commons-collections4 affected?
Yes, org.apache.commons:commons-collections4 is affected in releases prior to 4.1. Upgrade your dependency to 4.1 or later.
Is commons-collections affected?
Yes, commons-collections:commons-collections is affected in releases prior to 3.2.2. Upgrade your dependency to 3.2.2 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-6420?
CVE-2015-6420 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-2015-6420?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.commons'. 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-6hgm-866r-3cjv",
  "modified" : "2023-05-31T15:55:08Z",
  "published" : "2020-06-15T20:36:20Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-6420" ],
  "summary" : "Insecure Deserialization in Apache Commons Collection",
  "details" : "Serialized-object interfaces in Java applications using the Apache Commons Collections (ACC) library may allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object.",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
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  }, {
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      "name" : "net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic"
    },
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      }, {
        "last_affected" : "4.0.1"
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    } ]
  }, {
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    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
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  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-6420"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2306.05534"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/commons-collections"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05376917"
  }, {
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    "url" : "https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05390722"
  }, {
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    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r352e40ca9874d1beb4ad95403792adca7eb295e6bc3bd7b65fabcc21@%3Ccommits.samza.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/581311"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2017-14"
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    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.tenable.com/security/research/tra-2017-23"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20151209-java-deserialization"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpujul2018-4258247.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/78872"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-502" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-11T15:58:44Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2015-12-15T05:59:00Z"
  }
}