CVE-2021-30468 | Apache CXF Denial of service vulnerability in parsing JSON via JsonMapObjectReaderWriter

A vulnerability in the JsonMapObjectReaderWriter of Apache CXF allows an attacker to submit malformed JSON to a web service, which results in the thread getting stuck in an infinite loop, consuming CPU indefinitely. This issue affects Apache CXF versions prior to 3.4.4; Apache CXF versions prior to 3.3.11.

Published: 2021-06-16 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-30468 is rated High Risk (67.8/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.51%, 94th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +5.61% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-30468

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 1.90% 7.51% +5.61%
2 2025-12-06 1.50% 1.90% +0.39%
3 2025-11-21 — 1.50% —

Full EPSS history (30 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-30468

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-30468

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-30468

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-30468

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-30468

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-30468

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache cxf < 3.3.11 cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache cxf >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:apache:cxf:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache tomee 8.0.6 cpe:2.3:a:apache:tomee:8.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle business_intelligence 5.5.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_intelligence:5.5.0.0.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle business_intelligence 5.9.0.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_intelligence:5.9.0.0.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle business_intelligence 12.2.1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_intelligence:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle business_intelligence 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_intelligence:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*
oracle communications_element_manager 8.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_element_manager:8.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_messaging_server 8.1 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:communications_messaging_server:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-30468

URL Tags
http://cxf.apache.org/security-advisories.data/CVE-2021-30468.txt.asc Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/06/16/2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3f46ae38e4a6e80c069cdb320e0ce831b0a21a12ef0cc92c0943f34a%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4771084730c4cf6e59eda60b4407122c86f174eb750b24f610ba9ff4%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a4b6bc0520b69c18d2a59daa6af84ae49f0c22164dccb8538794459%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a4b6bc0520b69c18d2a59daa6af84ae49f0c22164dccb8538794459%40%3Cdev.cxf.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a4b6bc0520b69c18d2a59daa6af84ae49f0c22164dccb8538794459%40%3Cusers.cxf.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r54c0f1cbbb9f381dfbedb9ea5e90ecb1c0a15371f40c4b10322ac737%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra833f78b3fa577cb43558cf343859a1bf70b1c5ce2353b3877d96422%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rac07822057521dccf33ab5d136e0e8c599a6e2c8ac75e44ffbdc6e07%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/re5b2a2b77faa22684d47bd2ac6623135c615565328ff40a1ec705448%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/re9e05c6cab5f0dcc827eba4e6fcf26fa0b493e7ca84d62c867a80d03%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210917-0002/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence