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MEDIUM severity

CVE-2015-5169 — struts2-core

MEDIUM

CVE-2015-5169 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.1) Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in org.apache.struts:struts2-core. A fix is available for org.apache.struts:struts2-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Cross-site Scripting in Apache Struts

Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Nov 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
7.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs95th percentile — riskier than 95% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%3.36%6.72%10.1%1.2%7.5%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
☕org.apache.struts:struts2-core

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

When the Struts2 debug mode is turned on, under certain conditions an arbitrary script may be executed in the 'Problem Report' screen. Also if JSP files are exposed to be accessed directly it's possible to execute an arbitrary script.

It is generally not advisable to have debug mode switched on outside of the development environment. Debug mode should always be turned off in production setup. Also never expose JSPs files directly and hide them inside WEB-INF folder or define dedicated security constraints to block access to raw JSP files.

Struts >= 2.3.20 is not vulnerable to this attack. We recommend upgrading to Struts 2.3.20 or higher.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
☕Mavenorg.apache.struts:struts2-coreall versions2.3.20org.apache.struts:struts2-core:2.3.20

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations
Application
strutsapache
≥ 2.0.0 && ≤ 2.3.16.3
range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.struts:struts2-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update org.apache.struts:struts2-core to 2.3.20 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2015-5169 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.

Frequently Asked Questions

When the Struts2 debug mode is turned on, under certain conditions an arbitrary script may be executed in the 'Problem Report' screen. Also if JSP files are exposed to be accessed directly it's possible to execute an arbitrary script. It is generally not advisable to have debug mode switched on outside of the development environment. Debug mode should always be turned off in production setup. Also never expose JSPs files directly and hide them inside WEB-INF folder or define dedicated security constraints to block access to raw JSP files. Struts >= 2.3.20 is not vulnerable to this attack. W
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2015-5169: struts2-core — Fixed in 2.3.20