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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.8

CVE-2024-36401 kev in the critical feed json

Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in evaluating property name expressions in Geoserver

published 2024-07-01 2 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2024-2280 , GHSA-6jj6-gm7p-fcvv

cvss
9.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2024-07-15
epss
99.8%
EPSS 99.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.9%
public exploits
1
Metasploit, plus a Nuclei check

Summary

GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Prior to versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2, multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions.

The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to **ALL** GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code.

Versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the `gt-complex-x.y.jar` file from the GeoServer where `x.y` is the GeoTools version (e.g., `gt-complex-31.1.jar` if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.

Patch / fix

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

  • maven org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, 2.25.2
  • maven org.geoserver:gs-wfs 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, 2.25.2
  • maven org.geoserver:gs-wms 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, 2.25.2
  • geoserver geoserver 2.23.6, 2.24.4, 2.25.2

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/multi/http/geoserver_unauth_rce_cve_2024_36401)
  2. Published
  3. CISA SSVC: exploitation active
  4. Added to CISA KEV
  5. CISA patch deadline

Known exploited

Added
2 y ago
Patch by
2024-08-05 (2 y ago)
Ransomware
Not known
Required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vendor, product
OSGeo, GeoServer
CISA name
OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools Eval Injection Vulnerability

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

99.81% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • Metasploit exploit/multi/http/geoserver_unauth_rce_cve_2024_36401 Geoserver unauthenticated Remote Code Execution metasploit exploit, excellent rank, 2024-07-01
  • Nuclei template GeoServer RCE in Evaluating Property Name Expressions nuclei detection template
  • github.com https://github.com/geotools/geotools/security/advisories/GHSA-w3pj-wh35-fq8w referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • github.com https://github.com/Warxim/CVE-2022-41852?tab=readme-ov-file#workaround-for-cve-2022-41852 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • vicarius.io https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/geoserver-rce-cve-2024-36401 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H
NVD 3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app
>=2.24.0, <2.24.4
>=2.25.0, <2.25.2
>=2.23.0, <2.23.6
<2.22.6
2.24.4
2.25.2
2.23.6
2.22.6
maven org.geoserver:gs-wfs
>=2.24.0, <2.24.4
>=2.25.0, <2.25.2
>=2.23.0, <2.23.6
<2.22.6
2.24.4
2.25.2
2.23.6
2.22.6
maven org.geoserver:gs-wms
>=2.24.0, <2.24.4
>=2.25.0, <2.25.2
>=2.23.0, <2.23.6
<2.22.6
2.24.4
2.25.2
2.23.6
2.22.6

Affected products

  • geoserver geoserver

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-95 Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code
  • CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.