CVE-2023-45146 — xxl-rpc-core
CRITICALCVE-2023-45146 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in com.xuxueli:xxl-rpc-core. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Remote code execution in XXL-RPC
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-45146.
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-2023-45146 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 378,156 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.xuxueli:xxl-rpc-coreReal-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
XXL-RPC is a high performance, distributed RPC framework. With it, a TCP server can be set up using the Netty framework and the Hessian serialization mechanism. When such a configuration is used, attackers may be able to connect to the server and provide malicious serialized objects that, once deserialized, force it to execute arbitrary code. This can be abused to take control of the machine the server is running by way of remote code execution. This issue has not been fixed.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.xuxueli:xxl-rpc-core | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.xuxueli:xxl-rpc-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of com.xuxueli:xxl-rpc-core has shipped for CVE-2023-45146 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
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-2023-45146 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-45146. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-45146 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-45146 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.