CVE-2023-38647 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.helix:helix-core. A fix is available for org.apache.helix:helix-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Helix: Deserialization vulnerability in Helix workflow and REST
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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.
- 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-2023-38647.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.helix:helix-core☕org.apache.helix:helix-restReal-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
An attacker can use SnakeYAML to deserialize java.net.URLClassLoader and make it load a JAR from a specified URL, and then deserialize javax.script.ScriptEngineManager to load code using that ClassLoader. This unbounded deserialization can likely lead to remote code execution. The code can be run in Helix REST start and Workflow creation.
Affect all the versions lower and include 1.2.0.
Affected products: helix-core, helix-rest
Mitigation: Short term, stop using any YAML based configuration and workflow creation. Long term, all Helix version bumping up to 1.3.0
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.helix:helix-core | all versions | 1.3.0org.apache.helix:helix-core:1.3.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.helix:helix-rest | all versions | 1.3.0org.apache.helix:helix-rest:1.3.0 |
Affected Products
helixapacheDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.helix:helix-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.helix:helix-core to 1.3.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-38647 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
Is CVE-2023-38647 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.