How severe is CVE-2023-33246?

CVE-2023-33246 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-33246?

CVE-2023-33246 affects the following packages: org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker (Maven), org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv (Maven), org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-controller (Maven), org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-33246?

Update org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker to 5.1.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-33246 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-33246 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-33246 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against CVE-2023-33246?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-33246 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2023-33246 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 20 known exploit references for CVE-2023-33246, including 14 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-33246?

CVE-2023-33246 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 96.6%, placing it in the 100th 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. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2023-33246 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2023-33246 (Apache RocketMQ Command Execution Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2023-09-06. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2023-09-27. The required action was: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2023-33246?

CVE-2023-33246 is classified as Code Injection (CWE-94). 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-2023-33246 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-33246 was published on May 24, 2023 and was last updated on August 12, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

☕

☕ Maven

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2023-33246

CRITICAL

CVE-2023-33246 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-09-06) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-33246 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

Apache RocketMQ: Possible remote code execution vulnerability when using the update configuration function

Also known asGHSA-x3cq-8f32-5f63

Published

May 24, 2023

Updated

Aug 12, 2026

Affected

4 pkgs

Patched

4 / 4

Exploits

20 known

Exploitation data as of Aug 25, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2023-09-06. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2023-09-27.
CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2023-33246.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

96.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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-2023-33246 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE sits: patch-first territory.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 368,770 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.

Real-World Exposure

4 pkgs affected

☕org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker☕org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv☕org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-controller☕org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv

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

For RocketMQ versions 5.1.0 and below, under certain conditions, there is a risk of remote command execution.

Several components of RocketMQ, including NameServer, Broker, and Controller, are leaked on the extranet and lack permission verification, an attacker can exploit this vulnerability by using the update configuration function to execute commands as the system users that RocketMQ is running as. Additionally, an attacker can achieve the same effect by forging the RocketMQ protocol content.

To prevent these attacks, users are recommended to upgrade to version 5.1.1 or above for using RocketMQ 5.x or 4.9.6 or above for using RocketMQ 4.x .

Affected Packages

4 total 4 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-broker`	≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.1.1	5.1.1
☕Maven	`org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv`	≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.9.6	4.9.6
☕Maven	`org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-controller`	≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.1.1	5.1.1
☕Maven	`org.apache.rocketmq:rocketmq-namesrv`	≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.1.1	5.1.1

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.