CVE-2021-30179 — dubbo
CRITICALCVE-2021-30179 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.dubbo:dubbo. A fix is available for org.apache.dubbo:dubbo — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache Dubbo
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-2021-30179 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.apache.dubbo:dubbo☕com.alibaba:dubboReal-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
Apache Dubbo prior to 2.6.9 and 2.7.9 by default supports generic calls to arbitrary methods exposed by provider interfaces. These invocations are handled by the GenericFilter which will find the service and method specified in the first arguments of the invocation and use the Java Reflection API to make the final call. The signature for the $invoke or $invokeAsync methods is Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/String;[Ljava/lang/Object; where the first argument is the name of the method to invoke, the second one is an array with the parameter types for the method being invoked and the third one is an array with the actual call arguments. In addition, the caller also needs to set an RPC attachment specifying that the call is a generic call and how to decode the arguments. The possible values are: - true - raw.return - nativejava - bean - protobuf-json An attacker can control this RPC attachment and set it to nativejava to force the java deserialization of the byte array located in the third argument.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.dubbo:dubbo | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.7.10 | 2.7.10org.apache.dubbo:dubbo:2.7.10 |
| ☕Maven | com.alibaba:dubbo | ≥ 2.5.0&&< 2.6.9 | 2.6.9com.alibaba:dubbo:2.6.9 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.dubbo:dubbo, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.dubbo:dubbo to 2.7.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-30179 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-2021-30179 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-30179. 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-2021-30179 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-30179 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.