CVE-2017-12174 — hornetq-server
HIGHCVE-2017-12174 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Uncontrolled Resource Consumption vulnerability in org.hornetq:hornetq-server. A fix is available for org.hornetq:hornetq-server — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Artemis and HornetQ
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-2017-12174 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 377,636 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.hornetq:hornetq-server☕org.apache.activemq:artemis-nativeReal-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 when Artemis and HornetQ before 2.4.0 are configured with UDP discovery and JGroups discovery a huge byte array is created when receiving an unexpected multicast message. This may result in a heap memory exhaustion, full GC, or OutOfMemoryError.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.hornetq:hornetq-server | all versions | 2.4.0.Finalorg.hornetq:hornetq-server:2.4.0.Final |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.activemq:artemis-native | all versions | 2.4.0org.apache.activemq:artemis-native:2.4.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.hornetq:hornetq-server, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.hornetq:hornetq-server to 2.4.0.Final or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2017-12174 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-2017-12174 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-12174. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat JBoss EAP 7 | apache-artemis | RHSA-2018:0478 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 | hornetq | RHSA-2018:0269 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 for RHEL 5 | hornetq-0:2.3.25-25.SP23_redhat_1.1.ep6.el5 | RHSA-2018:0271 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 for RHEL 6 | hornetq-0:2.3.25-25.SP23_redhat_1.1.ep6.el6 | RHSA-2018:0270 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 for RHEL 6 | jboss-ec2-eap-0:7.5.19-2.Final_redhat_2.ep6.el6 | RHSA-2018:0275 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 6.4 for RHEL 7 | hornetq-0:2.3.25-25.SP23_redhat_1.1.ep6.el7 | RHSA-2018:0268 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1 for RHEL 6 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:1.5.5.009-1.redhat_1.1.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:0479 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1 for RHEL 6 | eap7-jboss-ec2-eap-0:7.1.1-3.1.GA_redhat_3.ep7.el6 | RHSA-2018:0481 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-12174 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-12174 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.