CVE-2021-35515 | Apache Commons Compress 1.6 to 1.20 denial of service vulnerability

When reading a specially crafted 7Z archive, the construction of the list of codecs that decompress an entry can result in an infinite loop. This could be used to mount a denial of service attack against services that use Compress' sevenz package.

Published: 2021-07-13 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-35515 is rated High Risk (68.4/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 11.88%, 96th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +10.69% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: 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-2021-35515

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 1.19% 11.88% +10.69%
2 2026-04-27 0.60% 1.19% +0.59%
3 2026-03-04 0.60%

Full EPSS history (38 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-35515

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-2021-35515

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-35515

GHSA-7hfm-57qf-j43q · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — Excessive Iteration in Compress

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-35515

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-35515 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libcommons-compress-java), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-35515
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-35515
suse high CVE-2021-35515 severity important: SUSE including 11 source package names (3.3.2-2.3:apache-commons-compress-1.21-3.3.1, 5.0.0-beta1.2.122:apache-commons-compress-1.21-3.3.1, …), 31 product×package rows across 27 product lines (Container containers/apache-pulsar, Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server, … (27 product lines)): Fixed 31. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-35515/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-35515 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libcommons-compress-java), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 8, needs-triage 7, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-35515

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-35515

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache commons_compress >= 1.6, <= 1.20 cpe:2.3:a:apache:commons_compress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:vmware_vsphere:*:*
netapp active_iq_unified_manager cpe:2.3:a:netapp:active_iq_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
netapp oncommand_insight cpe:2.3:a:netapp:oncommand_insight:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_digital_experience >= 18.1, <= 18.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_digital_experience:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_digital_experience 19.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_digital_experience:19.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_digital_experience 20.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_digital_experience:20.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_digital_experience 21.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_digital_experience:21.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_enterprise_default_management 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_enterprise_default_management:2.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_party_management 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_party_management:2.7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_payments 14.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_payments:14.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_trade_finance 14.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_trade_finance:14.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle banking_treasury_management 14.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:banking_treasury_management:14.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle business_process_management_suite 12.2.1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_process_management_suite:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle business_process_management_suite 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:business_process_management_suite:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle commerce_guided_search 11.3.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_guided_search:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_billing_and_revenue_management 12.0.0.4 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_billing_and_revenue_management:12.0.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_cloud_native_core_automated_test_suite 1.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_automated_test_suite:1.8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_cloud_native_core_service_communication_proxy 1.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_service_communication_proxy:1.14.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_cloud_native_core_unified_data_repository 1.14.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_unified_data_repository:1.14.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_diameter_intelligence_hub >= 8.0.0, <= 8.2.3 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_session_route_manager >= 8.0.0, <= 8.2.5 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_session_route_manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle financial_services_crime_and_compliance_management_studio 8.0.8.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:financial_services_crime_and_compliance_management_studio:8.0.8.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle financial_services_crime_and_compliance_management_studio 8.0.8.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:financial_services_crime_and_compliance_management_studio:8.0.8.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle financial_services_enterprise_case_management 8.0.7.2.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:financial_services_enterprise_case_management:8.0.7.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle financial_services_enterprise_case_management 8.0.8.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:financial_services_enterprise_case_management:8.0.8.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_universal_banking >= 14.0.0, <= 14.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_universal_banking:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_universal_banking 12.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_universal_banking:12.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle flexcube_universal_banking 14.5.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_universal_banking:14.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle healthcare_data_repository 8.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:healthcare_data_repository:8.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle insurance_policy_administration 11.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:insurance_policy_administration:11.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle insurance_policy_administration 11.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:insurance_policy_administration:11.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle insurance_policy_administration 11.2.8 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:insurance_policy_administration:11.2.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle insurance_policy_administration 11.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:insurance_policy_administration:11.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle insurance_policy_administration 11.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:insurance_policy_administration:11.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.57 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.57:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier >= 17.7, <= 17.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 18.8 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:18.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 19.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:19.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle primavera_unifier 20.12 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:primavera_unifier:20.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle utilities_testing_accelerator 6.0.0.1.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:utilities_testing_accelerator:6.0.0.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle utilities_testing_accelerator 6.0.0.2.2 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:utilities_testing_accelerator:6.0.0.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle utilities_testing_accelerator 6.0.0.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:utilities_testing_accelerator:6.0.0.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle communications_messaging_server 8.1 cpe:2.3:o:oracle:communications_messaging_server:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-35515

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/13/1 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://commons.apache.org/proper/commons-compress/security-reports.html Vendor Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r19ebfd71770ec0617a9ea180e321ef927b3fefb4c81ec5d1902d20ab%40%3Cuser.commons.apache.org%3E Vendor Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r67ef3c07fe3b8c1b02d48012149d280ad6da8e4cec253b527520fb2b%40%3Cdev.poi.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9f54c0caa462267e0cc68b49f141e91432b36b23348d18c65bd0d040%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rab292091eadd1ecc63c516e9541a7f241091cf2e652b8185a6059945%40%3Ccommits.druid.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/racd0c0381c8404f298b226cd9db2eaae965b14c9c568224aa3f437ae%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb064d705fdfa44b5dae4c366b369ef6597951083196321773b983e71%40%3Ccommits.pulsar.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb6e1fa80d34e5ada45f72655d84bfd90db0ca44ef19236a49198c88c%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb7adf3e55359819e77230b4586521e5c6874ce5ed93384bdc14d6aee%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rba65ed5ddb0586f5b12598f55ec7db3633e7b7fede60466367fbf86a%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbaea15ddc5a7c0c6b66660f1d6403b28595e2561bb283eade7d7cd69%40%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbe91c512c5385181149ab087b6c909825d34299f5c491c6482a2ed57%40%3Ccommits.druid.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd4332baaf6debd03d60deb7ec93bee49e5fdbe958cb6800dff7fb00e%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf2f4d7940371a7c7c5b679f50e28fc7fcc82cd00670ced87e013ac88%40%3Ccommits.druid.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rfba19167efc785ad3561e7ef29f340d65ac8f0d897aed00e0731e742%40%3Cnotifications.skywalking.apache.org%3E
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211022-0001/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html Patch Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
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