How severe is CVE-2016-6814?

CVE-2016-6814 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2016-6814?

CVE-2016-6814 affects the following packages: org.codehaus.groovy:groovy (Maven), org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2016-6814?

Update org.codehaus.groovy:groovy to 2.4.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-6814 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2016-6814 in my Maven dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2016-6814 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

Is CVE-2016-6814 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2016-6814 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-2016-6814?

CVE-2016-6814 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 17.2%, placing it in the 97th 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.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2016-6814?

CVE-2016-6814 is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

When was CVE-2016-6814 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2016-6814 was published on January 18, 2018 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2016-6814 — groovy

CRITICAL

CVE-2016-6814 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.codehaus.groovy:groovy. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 17.2% (97th percentile). A fix is available for org.codehaus.groovy:groovy — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Groovy

Also known asGHSA-xphj-m9cc-8fmq

Published

Jan 18, 2018

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 6, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

17.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs97th percentile — riskier than 97% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

2 pkgs affected

☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy☕org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all

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 an application with unsupported Codehaus versions of Groovy from 1.7.0 to 2.4.3, Apache Groovy 2.4.4 to 2.4.7 on classpath uses standard Java serialization mechanisms, e.g. to communicate between servers or to store local data, it was possible for an attacker to bake a special serialized object that will execute code directly when deserialized. All applications which rely on serialization and do not isolate the code which deserializes objects were subject to this vulnerability.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.codehaus.groovy:groovy`	≥ 1.7.0&&< 2.4.8	2.4.8`org.codehaus.groovy:groovy:2.4.8`
☕Maven	`org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all`	≥ 1.7.0&&< 2.4.8	2.4.8`org.codehaus.groovy:groovy-all:2.4.8`

Affected Products

2 products · 3 configurations

Application

groovyapache

≥ 2.4.4 && ≤ 2.4.7

range

enterprise linux serverredhat

1 version

7.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.codehaus.groovy:groovy, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.codehaus.groovy:groovy to 2.4.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2016-6814 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.

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.

Red HatImportant

This issue affects the versions of groovy as shipped with Red Hat Satellite 6.0 and 6.1. Red Hat Satellite 6.2 and later do not ship groovy, as such they are not affected by this vulnerability.

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7	`groovy-0:1.8.9-8.el7_4`	RHSA-2017:2486
Red Hat JBoss A-MQ 6.3	see advisory	RHSA-2017:0868
Red Hat JBoss Data Virtualization 6.3	`groovy`	RHSA-2017:0272
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6	`rh-maven33-groovy-0:1.8.9-7.19.el6`	RHSA-2017:2596

Frequently Asked Questions

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