CVE-2023-39410 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.avro:avro. A fix is available for org.apache.avro:avro — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Avro Java SDK: Memory when deserializing untrusted data in Avro Java SDK
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.
- 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-2023-39410.
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.avro:avroReal-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
When deserializing untrusted or corrupted data, it is possible for a reader to consume memory beyond the allowed constraints and thus lead to out of memory on the system.
This issue affects Java applications using Apache Avro Java SDK up to and including 1.11.2. Users should update to apache-avro version 1.11.3 which addresses this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.avro:avro | all versions | 1.11.3org.apache.avro:avro:1.11.3 |
Affected Products
avroapacheDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.avro:avro, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.avro:avro to 1.11.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-39410 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 | see advisory | RHSA-2023:7617 |
| Red Hat build of Quarkus 2.13.9 | avro | RHSA-2023:7700 |
| Red Hat build of Quarkus 3.2.9.Final | org.apache.avro/avro:1.11.3.redhat-00002 | RHSA-2023:7612 |
| Red Hat Fuse 7.12.1 | avro | RHSA-2023:7247 |
| Red Hat Fuse 7.13.0 | avro | RHSA-2024:3354 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform | org.apache.avro/avro:1.11.3.redhat-00001 | RHSA-2023:7641 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.1 EUS for RHEL 7 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.1.16-3.SP1_redhat_00001.1.ep7.el7 | RHSA-2024:10208 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 EUS for RHEL 7 | eap7-apache-cxf-0:3.4.10-1.SP1_redhat_00001.1.el7eap | RHSA-2024:10207 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-39410 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.