How severe is CVE-2023-46604?

CVE-2023-46604 has a CVSS score of 10/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2023-46604?

CVE-2023-46604 affects the following packages: org.apache.activemq:activemq-client (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-client (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-client (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-client (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy (Maven), org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy (Maven). Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2023-46604?

Update org.apache.activemq:activemq-client to 5.15.16 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-46604 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2023-46604 in my Maven dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.activemq:activemq-client, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2023-46604 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2023-46604 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 23 known exploit references for CVE-2023-46604, including 13 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-2023-46604?

CVE-2023-46604 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 99.9%, 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-2023-46604 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2023-46604 (Apache ActiveMQ Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2023-11-02. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2023-11-23. The required action was: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. This CVE has been used in known ransomware campaigns. 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-2023-46604?

CVE-2023-46604 is classified as Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502). 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.

Is there exploit tooling available for CVE-2023-46604?

2 Metasploit modules reference CVE-2023-46604, which lowers the barrier to weaponization. Public exploit tooling significantly increases real-world risk — prioritize patching and ensure detection coverage. Exploit tooling should only ever be used in isolated, authorized testing environments.

When was CVE-2023-46604 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2023-46604 was published on October 27, 2023 and was last updated on October 21, 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-2023-46604 — activemq-client

CRITICALFix: apache/activemq#1098

CVE-2023-46604 is a critical-severity (CVSS 10) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.activemq:activemq-client. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-11-02) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available for org.apache.activemq:activemq-client — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Apache ActiveMQ, Apache ActiveMQ Legacy OpenWire Module: Unbounded deserialization causes ActiveMQ to be vulnerable to a remote code execution (RCE) attack

Also known asBIT-activemq-2023-46604GHSA-crg9-44h2-xw35

Published

Oct 27, 2023

Updated

Oct 21, 2026

Affected

8 pkgs

Patched

8 / 8

Exploits

23 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 22, 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 2023-11-02 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2023-11-23.
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-2023-46604.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

99.9%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

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2023-46604 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the ≥ 90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

8 pkgs affected

☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-client☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-client☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-client☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-client☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy☕org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy

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

The Java OpenWire protocol marshaller is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution. This vulnerability may allow a remote attacker with network access to either a Java-based OpenWire broker or client to run arbitrary shell commands by manipulating serialized class types in the OpenWire protocol to cause either the client or the broker (respectively) to instantiate any class on the classpath.

Users are recommended to upgrade both brokers and clients to version 5.15.16, 5.16.7, 5.17.6, or 5.18.3 which fixes this issue.

Affected Packages

8 total 8 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client`	all versions	5.15.16`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client:5.15.16`
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client`	≥ 5.16.0&&< 5.16.7	5.16.7`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client:5.16.7`
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client`	≥ 5.17.0&&< 5.17.6	5.17.6`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client:5.17.6`
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client`	≥ 5.18.0&&< 5.18.3	5.18.3`org.apache.activemq:activemq-client:5.18.3`
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy`	≥ 5.8.0&&< 5.15.16	5.15.16`org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy:5.15.16`
☕Maven	`org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy`	≥ 5.16.0&&< 5.16.7	5.16.7`org.apache.activemq:activemq-openwire-legacy:5.16.7`

Affected Products

6 products · 13 configurations

Application

activemqapache

≥ 5.18.0 && < 5.18.3

range

Application

activemq legacy openwire moduleapache

≥ 5.18.0 && < 5.18.3

range

debian linuxdebian

2 versions

10.011.0

Application

e-series santricity unified managernetapp

all

Application

e-series santricity web services proxynetapp

all

Application

santricity storage pluginnetapp

all

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.