Description
Apache CXF supports sending and receiving attachments via either the JAX-WS or JAX-RS specifications. It is possible to craft a message attachment header that could lead to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack on a CXF web service provider. Both JAX-WS and JAX-RS services are vulnerable to this attack. From Apache CXF 3.2.1 and 3.1.14, message attachment headers that are greater than 300 characters will be rejected by default. This value is configurable via the property "attachment-max-header-size".
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Apache CXF | prior to 3.1.14, 3.2.x prior to 3.2.1 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-activemq-artemis +15 | 1.5.5.013-1.redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-bouncycastle +3 | 1.56.0-5.redhat_3.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-guava +1 | 25.0.0-1.redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-hibernate +5 | 5.1.15-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-ironjacamar +8 | 1.4.10-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-jberet +1 | 1.2.6-2.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-jboss-ejb-client | 4.0.11-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-jboss-remoting | 5.0.8-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-jboss-server-migration +18 | 1.0.6-4.Final_redhat_4.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-mod_cluster | 1.3.10-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-narayana +10 | 5.5.32-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-picketlink-api +9 | 2.5.5-13.SP12_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-resteasy +16 | 3.0.26-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-undertow | 1.4.18-7.SP8_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly +1 | 7.1.4-1.GA_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly-javadocs | 7.1.4-2.GA_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly-naming-client | 1.0.9-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly-openssl-linux | 1.0.6-14.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly-transaction-client | 1.0.4-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | eap7-wildfly-web-console-eap | 2.9.18-1.Final_redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:2424, RHSA-2018:2423 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
GitHub 1 repository
-
tafamace/CVE-2017-12624 ★ 0 · Nov 19, 2018
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-core | >= 3.2.0, < 3.2.1 | 3.2.1 | GHSA-7vgj-8mw4-hg8r |
| Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-core | >= 3.1.0, < 3.1.14 | 3.1.14 | GHSA-7vgj-8mw4-hg8r |
| Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-core | < 3.0.16 | 3.0.16 | GHSA-7vgj-8mw4-hg8r |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2018:2424 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1.4 on RHEL7 security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 5, 2026
- RHSA-2018:2423 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1.4 on RHEL 6 security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Aug 5, 2026
- WID-SEC-2023-1594 IBM Tivoli Network Manager: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Jun 28, 2023
References
- RHSA-2018:2428 vendor-advisory
- 1040486 vdb-entry
- RHSA-2018:2424 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2018:2423 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2018:2425 vendor-advisory
- 101859 vdb-entry
- http://cxf.apache.org/security-advisories.data/CVE-2017-12624.txt.asc
- [cxf-commits] 20200116 svn commit: r1055336 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache security-advisories.data/CVE-2019-12423.txt.asc security-advisories.data/CVE-2019-17573.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list
- [cxf-commits] 20200319 svn commit: r1058035 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache security-advisories.data/CVE-2019-17573.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list
- [cxf-commits] 20200401 svn commit: r1058573 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache index.html security-advisories.data/CVE-2020-1954.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list
- [cxf-commits] 20201112 svn commit: r1067927 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache security-advisories.data/CVE-2020-13954.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list
- [cxf-commits] 20210402 svn commit: r1073270 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache security-advisories.data/CVE-2021-22696.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list
- [cxf-commits] 20210616 svn commit: r1075801 - in /websites/production/cxf/content: cache/main.pageCache index.html security-advisories.data/CVE-2021-30468.txt.asc security-advisories.html mailing-list