CVE-2018-12533 — richfaces-core
CRITICALCVE-2018-12533 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Expression Language Injection vulnerability in org.richfaces:richfaces-core. 3 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Arbitrary code execution in Richfaces
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-2018-12533 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 376,715 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.richfaces:richfaces-coreReal-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
JBoss RichFaces 3.1.0 through 3.3.4 allows unauthenticated remote attackers to inject expression language (EL) expressions and execute arbitrary Java code via a /DATA/ substring in a path with an org.richfaces.renderkit.html.Paint2DResource$ImageData object, aka RF-14310.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.richfaces:richfaces-core | ≥ 3.1.0 | 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 org.richfaces:richfaces-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of org.richfaces:richfaces-core has shipped for CVE-2018-12533 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-2018-12533 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2018-12533. 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 5 | RichFaces | RHSA-2018:2663 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 5 for RHEL 5 | richfaces-0:3.3.1-7.SP3_patch_02.ep5.el5 | RHSA-2018:2664 |
| Red Hat JBoss Operations Network 3.3 | RichFaces | RHSA-2018:2930 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-12533 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2018-12533 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.