Apache Geode versions up to 1.12.5, 1.13.4 and 1.14.0 are vulnerable to a deserialization of untrusted data flaw when using JMX over RMI on Java 8. Any user still on Java 8 who wishes to protect against deserialization attacks involving JMX or RMI should upgrade to Apache Geode 1.15 and Java 11. If upgrading to Java 11 is not possible, then upgrade to Apache Geode 1.15 and specify –J=-Dgeode.enableGlobalSerialFilter=true when starting any Locators or Servers. Follow the documentation for details on specifying any user classes that may be serialized/deserialized with the serializable-object-filter configuration option. Using a global serial filter will impact performance.
The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geode | Apache | * | 1.12.5 (including) |
| Geode | Apache | 1.13.0 (including) | 1.13.4 (including) |
| Geode | Apache | 1.14.0 (including) | 1.14.0 (including) |
It is often convenient to serialize objects for communication or to save them for later use. However, deserialized data or code can often be modified without using the provided accessor functions if it does not use cryptography to protect itself. Furthermore, any cryptography would still be client-side security – which is a dangerous security assumption. Data that is untrusted can not be trusted to be well-formed. When developers place no restrictions on “gadget chains,” or series of instances and method invocations that can self-execute during the deserialization process (i.e., before the object is returned to the caller), it is sometimes possible for attackers to leverage them to perform unauthorized actions, like generating a shell.