CVE-2019-10173

Vulnerability

Description

CVE-2019-10173 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the XStream API, introduced as a regression of CVE-2013-7285 in version 1.4.10. The flaw lies in the deserialization mechanism: if the security framework has not been initialized, an attacker can trigger arbitrary shell command execution by unmarshalling maliciously crafted XML or JSON input [1][2].

Exploitation and

Attack Surface

An attacker exploits this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted serialized object (e.g., XML or JSON) to an application using XStream 1.4.10 without proper security setup. The attack is remote and does not require authentication, as long as the target application accepts unmarshalling of untrusted data. The scenario is similar to the original CVE-2013-7285, but the regression reintroduced the insecure default behavior that was previously fixed [2].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the server running XStream. This can lead to full system compromise, data exfiltration, and further lateral movement within the network [3][4]. Red Hat rated the severity as Important, with advisory updates issued for Red Hat Data Grid and Red Hat Enterprise Linux to address this issue [3][4].

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in XStream version 1.4.11. Users should upgrade immediately and ensure the security framework is correctly initialized. Red Hat released errata RHSA-2019:3892 and RHSA-2020:0727 to address the vulnerability in their affected products. No workaround other than full patching is recommended [1][3][4].