CVE-2016-2141 — jgroups
CRITICALCVE-2016-2141 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) vulnerability in org.jgroups:jgroups. A fix is available for org.jgroups:jgroups — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Input Validation in JGroups
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.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-2141 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,166 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.jgroups:jgroups☕org.jgroups:jgroupsReal-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
It was found that JGroups did not require necessary headers for encrypt and auth protocols from new nodes joining the cluster. An attacker could use this flaw to bypass security restrictions, and use this vulnerability to send and receive messages within the cluster, leading to information disclosure, message spoofing, or further possible attacks.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jgroups:jgroups | ≥ 3.3.0.Alpha1&&< 3.6.10.Final | 3.6.10.Finalorg.jgroups:jgroups:3.6.10.Final |
| ☕Maven | org.jgroups:jgroups | all versions | 3.2.16.Finalorg.jgroups:jgroups:3.2.16.Final |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.jgroups:jgroups, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jgroups:jgroups to 3.6.10.Final or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-2141 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-2016-2141 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2016-2141. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| JBoss Enterprise BRMS Platform 5.3 | Clustering | RHSA-2016:1345 |
| Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.3 | Clustering | RHSA-2016:1347 |
| Red Hat JBoss Data Grid 6.6 | jgroups | RHSA-2016:1334 |
| Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization 6.2 | Clustering | RHSA-2016:1346 |
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7.0 | see advisory | RHSA-2016:1333 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5.2 | see advisory | RHSA-2016:1329 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5 for RHEL 5 | jgroups-1:2.6.22-2.ep5.el5 | RHSA-2016:1328 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 | see advisory | RHSA-2016:1331 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-2141 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2016-2141 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.