CVE-2015-7501
CRITICALDeserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache commons collections
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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.
Blast Radius
commons-collections:commons-collections☕org.apache.commons:commons-collections4☕org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections☕net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic☕org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-genericReal-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
Red Hat JBoss A-MQ 6.x; BPM Suite (BPMS) 6.x; BRMS 6.x and 5.x; Data Grid (JDG) 6.x; Data Virtualization (JDV) 6.x and 5.x; Enterprise Application Platform 6.x, 5.x, and 4.3.x; Fuse 6.x; Fuse Service Works (FSW) 6.x; Operations Network (JBoss ON) 3.x; Portal 6.x; SOA Platform (SOA-P) 5.x; Web Server (JWS) 3.x; Red Hat OpenShift/xPAAS 3.x; and Red Hat Subscription Asset Manager 1.3 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted serialized Java object, related to the Apache Commons Collections (ACC) library.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | commons-collections:commons-collections | all versions | 3.2.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.commons:commons-collections4 | all versions | 4.1 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.commons-collections | ≥ 3.2.1 | No fix |
| ☕Maven | net.sourceforge.collections:collections-generic | all versions | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.servicemix.bundles:org.apache.servicemix.bundles.collections-generic | ≥ 4.01 | No fix |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for commons-collections:commons-collections. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update commons-collections:commons-collections to 3.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2015-7501 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2015-7501 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2015-7501. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2015-7501 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2015-7501 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.