Vulnerabilities in pkg:maven/org.apache.uima/uimaj

PACKAGE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5r8j-qmcm-7g7q
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-39913 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) apache uima java sdk deserialization vulnerability (CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data) affecting Uimaj libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves apache uima java sdk deserialization of untrusted data, improper input validation vulnerability. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.5.0.

1 Known Advisory Record(s)
Package Vulnerability Intelligence

pkg:maven/org.apache.uima/uimaj

1 Known Advisory Record(s)

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

Advisory ID CVE / NVD Severity Summary
GHSA-5r8j-qmcm-7g7q CVE-2023-39913 HIGH Apache UIMA Java SDK Deserialization of Untrusted Data, Improper Input Validation vulnerability

CVE-2023-39913 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-39913
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5r8j-qmcm-7g7q
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Affected Product Uimaj
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

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

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
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-2023-39913

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Uimaj 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.uima:uimaj fixed: 3.5.0
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.uima</groupId>
    <artifactId>uimaj</artifactId>
    <version>3.5.0</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.uima

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-39913, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

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

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Uimaj in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.5.0), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.uima 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 Uimaj, 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

Deserialization of Untrusted Data, Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache UIMA Java SDK. This issue affects Apache UIMA Java SDK before 3.5.0. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.5.0, which fixes the issue. There are several locations in the code where serialized Java objects are deserialized without verifying the data. This affects in particular: * the deserialization of a Java-serialized CAS, but also other binary CAS formats that include TSI information using the CasIOUtils class; * the CAS Editor Eclipse plugin which uses the the CasIOUtils class to load data; * the deserialization of a Java-serialized CAS of the Vinci Analysis Engine service which can receive using Java-serialized CAS objects over network connections; * the CasAnnotationViewerApplet and the CasTreeViewerApplet; * the checkpointing feature of the CPE module. Note that the UIMA framework by default does not start any remotely accessible services (i.e. Vinci) that would be vulnerable to this issue. A user or developer would need to make an active choice to start such a service. However, users or developers may use the CasIOUtils in their own applications and services to parse serialized CAS data. They are affected by this issue unless they ensure that the data passed to CasIOUtils is not a serialized Java object. When using Vinci or using CasIOUtils in own services/applications, the unrestricted deserialization of Java-serialized CAS files may allow arbitrary (remote) code execution. As a remedy, it is possible to set up a global or context-specific ObjectInputFilter (cf. https://openjdk.org/jeps/290  and  https://openjdk.org/jeps/415 ) if running UIMA on a Java version that supports it. Note that Java 1.8 does not support the ObjectInputFilter, so there is no remedy when running on this out-of-support platform. An upgrade to a recent Java version is strongly recommended if you need to secure an UIMA version that is affected by this issue. To mitigate the issue on a Java 9+ platform, you can configure a filter pattern through the "jdk.serialFilter" system property using a semicolon as a separator: To allow deserializing Java-serialized binary CASes, add the classes: * org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASCompleteSerializer * org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASMgrSerializer * org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASSerializer * java.lang.String To allow deserializing CPE Checkpoint data, add the following classes (and any custom classes your application uses to store its checkpoints): * org.apache.uima.collection.impl.cpm.CheckpointData * org.apache.uima.util.ProcessTrace * org.apache.uima.util.impl.ProcessTrace_impl * org.apache.uima.collection.base_cpm.SynchPoint Make sure to use "!*" as the final component to the filter pattern to disallow deserialization of any classes not listed in the pattern. Apache UIMA 3.5.0 uses tightly scoped ObjectInputFilters when reading Java-serialized data depending on the type of data being expected. Configuring a global filter is not necessary with this version.

CVE-2023-39913 Affected Uimaj Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.5.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.apache.uima:uimaj
Maven
< 3.5.0
3.5.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-39913?
CVE-2023-39913 is a security vulnerability in Uimaj involving Apache UIMA Java SDK Deserialization of Untrusted Data, Improper Input Validation vulnerability under CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data.
Which Uimaj versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.5.0 across affected packages: org.apache.uima:uimaj.
What version fixes CVE-2023-39913?
Upgrading to 3.5.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is uimaj affected?
Yes, org.apache.uima:uimaj is affected in releases prior to 3.5.0. Upgrade your dependency to 3.5.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-39913?
CVE-2023-39913 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-39913?
CVE-2023-39913 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-2023-39913?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.apache.uima'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5r8j-qmcm-7g7q",
  "modified" : "2025-02-13T19:20:43Z",
  "published" : "2023-11-08T09:30:25Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-39913" ],
  "summary" : "Apache UIMA Java SDK Deserialization of Untrusted Data, Improper Input Validation vulnerability",
  "details" : "Deserialization of Untrusted Data, Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache UIMA Java SDK. This issue affects Apache UIMA Java SDK before 3.5.0.\n\nUsers are recommended to upgrade to version 3.5.0, which fixes the issue.\n\nThere are several locations in the code where serialized Java objects are deserialized without verifying the data. This affects in particular:\n  *  the deserialization of a Java-serialized CAS, but also other binary CAS formats that include TSI information using the CasIOUtils class;\n  *  the CAS Editor Eclipse plugin which uses the the CasIOUtils class to load data;\n  *  the deserialization of a Java-serialized CAS of the Vinci Analysis Engine service which can receive using Java-serialized CAS objects over network connections;\n  *  the CasAnnotationViewerApplet and the CasTreeViewerApplet;\n  *  the checkpointing feature of the CPE module.\n\nNote that the UIMA framework by default does not start any remotely accessible services (i.e. Vinci) that would be vulnerable to this issue. A user or developer would need to make an active choice to start such a service. However, users or developers may use the CasIOUtils in their own applications and services to parse serialized CAS data. They are affected by this issue unless they ensure that the data passed to CasIOUtils is not a serialized Java object.\n\nWhen using Vinci or using CasIOUtils in own services/applications, the unrestricted deserialization of Java-serialized CAS files may allow arbitrary (remote) code execution.\n\nAs a remedy, it is possible to set up a global or context-specific ObjectInputFilter (cf.  https://openjdk.org/jeps/290  and  https://openjdk.org/jeps/415 ) if running UIMA on a Java version that supports it. \n\nNote that Java 1.8 does not support the ObjectInputFilter, so there is no remedy when running on this out-of-support platform. An upgrade to a recent Java version is strongly recommended if you need to secure an UIMA version that is affected by this issue.\n\nTo mitigate the issue on a Java 9+ platform, you can configure a filter pattern through the \"jdk.serialFilter\" system property using a semicolon as a separator:\n\nTo allow deserializing Java-serialized binary CASes, add the classes:\n  *  org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASCompleteSerializer\n  *  org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASMgrSerializer\n  *  org.apache.uima.cas.impl.CASSerializer\n  *  java.lang.String\n\nTo allow deserializing CPE Checkpoint data, add the following classes (and any custom classes your application uses to store its checkpoints):\n  *  org.apache.uima.collection.impl.cpm.CheckpointData\n  *  org.apache.uima.util.ProcessTrace\n  *  org.apache.uima.util.impl.ProcessTrace_impl\n  *  org.apache.uima.collection.base_cpm.SynchPoint\n\nMake sure to use \"!*\" as the final component to the filter pattern to disallow deserialization of any classes not listed in the pattern.\n\nApache UIMA 3.5.0 uses tightly scoped ObjectInputFilters when reading Java-serialized data depending on the type of data being expected. Configuring a global filter is not necessary with this version.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.apache.uima:uimaj"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.5.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-39913"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/uima-uimaj"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/apache/uima-uimaj/releases/tag/rel%2Fuimaj-3.5.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread/lw30f4qlq3mhkhpljj16qw4fot3rg7v4"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/11/08/1"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20", "CWE-502" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-11-08T17:48:22Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-11-08T08:15:08Z"
  }
}