Denial of service in XStream

Description

XStream through 1.4.9, when a certain denyTypes workaround is not used, mishandles attempts to create an instance of the primitive type 'void' during unmarshalling, leading to a remote application crash, as demonstrated by an xstream.fromXML("<void/>") call.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
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Published (advisory)
2020-06-30 22:48:24 UTC
Updated
2025-05-23 19:00:18 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2020-06-30 22:47:51 UTC
NVD published
2017-04-29

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
2.64% 85.50%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.5 3.0
CVSS:3.0/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.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
maven com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream < 1.4.10 1.4.10

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence