CVE-2023-46604 | Apache ActiveMQ, Apache ActiveMQ Legacy OpenWire Module: Unbounded deserialization causes ActiveMQ to be vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE) attack

Exp

The Java OpenWire protocol marshaller is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution. This vulnerability may allow a remote attacker with network access to either a Java-based OpenWire broker or client to run arbitrary shell commands by manipulating serialized class types in the OpenWire protocol to cause either the client or the broker (respectively) to instantiate any class on the classpath. Users are recommended to upgrade both brokers and clients to version 5.15.16, 5.16.7, 5.17.6, or 5.18.3 which fixes this issue.

Published: 2023-10-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-46604 is rated Critical Active Threat (100/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 99.65%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2023-11-02) affecting Apache / ActiveMQ. a weakness (CWE-502) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. EPSS rose +5.22% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2023-46604

Name: Apache ActiveMQ Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2023-11-02

Action due: 2023-11-23

Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-46604

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-46604

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 94.44% 99.65% +5.22%
2 2025-11-21 94.30% 94.44% +0.13%
3 2025-11-18 — 94.30% —

Full EPSS history (35 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-46604

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
10.0 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 6.0 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-46604

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-46604

GHSA-crg9-44h2-xw35 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — Apache ActiveMQ is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-46604

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-46604 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (activemq), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-46604
redhat critical — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-46604
ubuntu high CVE-2023-46604 high priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (activemq), 11 status rows across 11 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 5, ignored 3, not-affected 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-46604

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-46604

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache activemq < 5.15.16 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq >= 5.16.0, < 5.16.7 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq >= 5.17.0, < 5.17.6 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq >= 5.18.0, < 5.18.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq_legacy_openwire_module < 5.15.16 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq_legacy_openwire_module:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq_legacy_openwire_module >= 5.16.0, < 5.16.7 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq_legacy_openwire_module:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq_legacy_openwire_module >= 5.17.0, < 5.17.6 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq_legacy_openwire_module:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache activemq_legacy_openwire_module >= 5.18.0, < 5.18.3 cpe:2.3:a:apache:activemq_legacy_openwire_module:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp e-series_santricity_unified_manager — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:e-series_santricity_unified_manager:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp e-series_santricity_web_services_proxy — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:e-series_santricity_web_services_proxy:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp santricity_storage_plugin — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:santricity_storage_plugin:-:*:*:*:*:vcenter:*:*

References for CVE-2023-46604

cvelogic Threat Intelligence