How severe is CVE-2021-37578?

CVE-2021-37578 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-37578?

CVE-2021-37578 affects the following packages: org.apache.juddi:juddi-core (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2021-37578?

Update org.apache.juddi:juddi-core to 3.3.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-37578 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-37578 in my Maven dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-37578 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-2021-37578 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2021-37578 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-2021-37578?

CVE-2021-37578 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 4.1%, placing it in the 91th 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 indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-37578?

CVE-2021-37578 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-2021-37578 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-37578 was published on August 9, 2021 and was last updated on November 8, 2023. 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-2021-37578 — juddi-core

CRITICALFix: apache/juddi@dd880ff

CVE-2021-37578 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.juddi:juddi-core. A fix is available for org.apache.juddi:juddi-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Deserialization of Untrusted Data in Apache jUDDI

Published

Aug 9, 2021

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 10, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

4.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs91th percentile — riskier than 91% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-37578 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

☕org.apache.juddi:juddi-core

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

Apache jUDDI uses several classes related to Java's Remote Method Invocation (RMI) which (as an extension to UDDI) provides an alternate transport for accessing UDDI services.

RMI uses the default Java serialization mechanism to pass parameters in RMI invocations. A remote attacker can send a malicious serialized object to the above RMI entries. The objects get deserialized without any check on the incoming data. In the worst case, it may let the attacker run arbitrary code remotely.

For both jUDDI web service applications and jUDDI clients, the usage of RMI is disabled by default. Since this is an optional feature and an extension to the UDDI protocol, the likelihood of impact is low. Starting with 3.3.10, all RMI related code was removed.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.juddi:juddi-core`	all versions	3.3.10`org.apache.juddi:juddi-core:3.3.10`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

juddiapache

< 3.3.10

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.juddi:juddi-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.juddi:juddi-core to 3.3.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-37578 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Apache jUDDI uses several classes related to Java's Remote Method Invocation (RMI) which (as an extension to UDDI) provides an alternate transport for accessing UDDI services. RMI uses the default Java serialization mechanism to pass parameters in RMI invocations. A remote attacker can send a malicious serialized object to the above RMI entries. The objects get deserialized without any check on the incoming data. In the worst case, it may let the attacker run arbitrary code remotely. For both jUDDI web service applications and jUDDI clients, the usage of RMI is disabled by default. Since th

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-37578 in your dependencies?

Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

9.8/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Aug 9, 2021

Last updated

Nov 8, 2023

Identifiers

CVE-2021-37578

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov Webgithub.com Weblists.apache.org Webopenwall.com Packagegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is critical severity; 4 of 8 other CVEs with CWE-502 are rated as high or higher (top: critical).

CVE-2025-66455CVE-2025-59953CVE-2026-49400CVE-2026-50646CVE-2026-78683CVE-2026-79657GHSA-gqvg-gmmx-x4hmCVE-2026-55175Browse all CWE-502

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedNov 8, 2023

CVE-2021-37578 — juddi-core

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2021-37578 in your dependencies?