CVE-2021-46877 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind — see the affected versions and patch details below.
jackson-databind possible Denial of Service if using JDK serialization to serialize JsonNode
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2021-46877.
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-2021-46877 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
com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind☕com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databindReal-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
jackson-databind 2.10.x through 2.12.x before 2.12.6 and 2.13.x before 2.13.1 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (2 GB transient heap usage per read) in uncommon situations involving JsonNode JDK serialization.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.10.0&&< 2.12.6 | 2.12.6com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.12.6 |
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.13.0&&< 2.13.1 | 2.13.1com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.13.1 |
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 com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind to 2.12.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-46877 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-2021-46877 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2021-46877. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Migration Toolkit for Runtimes 1 on RHEL 8 | mtr/mtr-web-container-rhel8:1.1-7 | RHSA-2023:3373 |
| MTA-6.2-RHEL-9 | mta/mta-windup-addon-rhel9:6.2.0-11 | RHSA-2023:4627 |
| OCP-Tools-4.12-RHEL-8 | jenkins-0:2.401.1.1686649641-3.el8 | RHSA-2023:3610 |
| OCP-Tools-4.13-RHEL-8 | jenkins-0:2.387.3.1684911776-3.el8 | RHSA-2023:3299 |
| Red Hat AMQ Streams 2.4.0 | see advisory | RHSA-2023:3223 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform | com.fasterxml.jackson.core/jackson-databind:2.12.7.redhat-00003 | RHSA-2023:4509 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 8 | eap7-wildfly-0:7.4.12-3.GA_redhat_00003.1.el8eap | RHSA-2023:4506 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 for RHEL 9 | eap7-wildfly-0:7.4.12-3.GA_redhat_00003.1.el9eap | RHSA-2023:4507 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-46877 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2021-46877 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.