CVE-2023-46604
Description
A flaw was found in Apache ActiveMQ, specifically the OpenWire Module. This flaw may allow a remote malicious user to run arbitrary shell commands by manipulating serialized class types in the OpenWire protocol, causing the broker to instantiate any class on the classpath. This issue happens when OpenWire commands are unmarshalled, without validating the provided throwable class type, which could allow an attacker to jeopardize the entire server.
Statement
If the openwire protocol IS NOT in use, system operators can disable the OpenWire protocol which removes most risk of this vulnerability being exploited. If OpenWire IS being used, see the Mitigations section for potential options to reduce your attack surface.
- How to determine if an AMQ 7 system is affected: Check in the broker.xml configuration file. Notice the presence of OPENWIRE in the following snippet which indicates a vulnerable configuration.
<acceptor name="artemis">tcp://localhost:####?tcpSendBufferSize=1048576;tcpReceiveBufferSize=1048576;protocols=CORE,AMQP,STOMP,HORNETQ,MQTT,**OPENWIRE**;useEpoll=true;amqpCredits=1000;amqpLowCredits=300;anycastPrefix=jms.queue.;multicastPrefix=jms.topic.</acceptor>
How to determine if an AMQ 7 for OpenShift system is affected: Get the
ActivemqArtemisCR yaml and review the acceptor protocol and see if the following entry is present:(default, all, Openwire)which indicates the system is vulnerable.How to determine if a Fuse 6 system is affected: By default Fuse 6 includes and enables ActiveMQ Broker. So unless this has been manually disabled, every Fuse 6 system is affected by this vulnerability.
How to determine if a Fuse 7 system is affected: Fuse 7 itself is not vulnerable. By default it ships the vulnerable activemq-client jar, however it does not instantiate an ActiveMQ broker. If this feature (connect to an external ActiveMQ Broker) were manually configured, it would make it vulnerable.
How to determine if a Fuse Online system is affected: Syndesis, an Integration Platform As A Service part of Fuse Online which runs on top of Openshift, does not use activemq code. Also, it doesn't instantiate a broker with Openwire protocol enabled, which makes it not vulnerable to this CVE.
Mitigation
In affected systems, it may be possible to mitigate some of the risks from this vulnerability. However this mitigation cannot eliminate all risks; the only complete resolution is to apply software updates. On systems where the broker is exposed to the public network, use firewall rules to restrict the transport ports and enable SSL to protect this "Transport".
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 9.8 | 9.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | None | None | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | None | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Unexpected State
Attackers can modify unexpected objects or data that was assumed to be safe from modification. Deserialized data or code could be modified without using the provided accessor functions, or unexpected functions could be invoked.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)
If a function is making an assumption on when to terminate, based on a sentry in a string, it could easily never terminate.
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
The consequences can vary widely, because it depends on which objects or methods are being deserialized, and how they are used. Making an assumption that the code in the deserialized object is valid is dangerous and can enable exploitation. One example is attackers using gadget chains to perform unauthorized actions, such as generating a shell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not sure what something means? Check out our Security Glossary.
Want to get errata notifications? Sign up here.
