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Spring-Kafka Contains a Java Deserialization Vulnerability When Improperly Configured - 20230905001

Overview

In Spring for Apache Kafka 3.0.9 and earlier and versions 2.9.10 and earlier, a possible deserialization attack vector existed, but only if unusual configuration was applied. An attacker would have to construct a malicious serialized object in one of the deserialization exception record headers.

What is the vulnerability?

CVE-2023-34040 - CVSS v3 Base Score: 7.8:

Specifically, an application is vulnerable when all of the following are true:

  • The user does not configure an ErrorHandlingDeserializer for the key and/or value of the record
  • The user explicitly sets container properties checkDeserExWhenKeyNull and/or checkDeserExWhenValueNull container properties to true.
  • The user allows untrusted sources to publish to a Kafka topic

By default, these properties are false, and the container only attempts to deserialize the headers if an ErrorHandlingDeserializer is configured. The ErrorHandlingDeserializer prevents the vulnerability by removing any such malicious headers before processing the record.

What is vulnerable?

The vulnerability affects the following products:

  • Spring for Apache Kafka versions:
    • 2.8.1 to 2.9.10
    • 3.0.0 to 3.0.9

What has been observed?

There is no evidence of exploitation affecting Western Australian Government networks at the time of publishing.

Recommendation

The WA SOC recommends administrators apply the solutions as per vendor instructions to all affected devices within expected timeframe of one month... (refer Patch Management):