How severe is CVE-2007-4556?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2007-4556 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2007-4556?

CVE-2007-4556 affects the following packages: opensymphony:xwork (Maven), opensymphony:xwork (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2007-4556?

Update opensymphony:xwork to 1.2.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2007-4556 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2007-4556 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for opensymphony:xwork, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2007-4556 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2007-4556?

O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2007-4556 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Is CVE-2007-4556 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2007-4556 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2007-4556?

CVE-2007-4556 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 25.7%, placing it in the 98th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2007-4556?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2007-4556, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2007-4556 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2007-4556 was published on May 1, 2022 and was last updated on November 30, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2007-4556: xwork RCE

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

25.7%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs98th percentile — riskier than 98% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

☕opensymphony:xwork☕opensymphony:xwork

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

XWork is an command-pattern framework that is used to power WebWork as well as other applications. Struts support in OpenSymphony XWork before 1.2.3, and 2.x before 2.0.4, as used in WebWork and Apache Struts, recursively evaluates all input as an Object-Graph Navigation Language (OGNL) expression when altSyntax is enabled, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) or execute arbitrary code via form input beginning with a "%{" sequence and ending with a "}" character.

Note: Version 2.0.4 marks the change from opensymphony:xwork to com.opensymphony:xwork.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`opensymphony:xwork`	all versions	1.2.3`opensymphony:xwork:1.2.3`
☕Maven	`opensymphony:xwork`	≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.4	2.0.4`opensymphony:xwork:2.0.4`

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for opensymphony:xwork, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update opensymphony:xwork to 1.2.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2007-4556 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2007-4556 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to CVE-2007-4556. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

How to detect CVE-2007-4556

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2007-4556 -u https://target

Template: OpenSymphony XWork/Apache Struts2 - Remote Code Execution
Severity: medium
Impact: Remote code execution
Remediation: Update to the latest version of Apache Struts2

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (pikpikcu), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

XWork is an command-pattern framework that is used to power WebWork as well as other applications. Struts support in OpenSymphony XWork before 1.2.3, and 2.x before 2.0.4, as used in WebWork and Apache Struts, recursively evaluates all input as an Object-Graph Navigation Language (OGNL) expression when altSyntax is enabled, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) or execute arbitrary code via form input beginning with a "%{" sequence and ending with a "}" character. Note: Version 2.0.4 marks the change from `opensymphony:xwork` to `com.opensymphony:xwork`.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2007-4556 in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds CVE-2007-4556 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVE-2007-4556 — xwork