CVE-2024-23686 — dependency-check-ant
MEDIUMCVE-2024-23686 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-532 vulnerability in org.owasp:dependency-check-ant. A fix is available for org.owasp:dependency-check-ant — see the affected versions and patch details below.
DependencyCheck Debug Mode Logging of NVD API Key
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-23686.
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-2024-23686 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 377,166 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
org.owasp:dependency-check-ant☕org.owasp:dependency-check-cli☕org.owasp:dependency-check-mavenReal-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
DependencyCheck for Maven 9.0.0 to 9.0.6, for CLI version 9.0.0 to 9.0.5, and for Ant versions 9.0.0 to 9.0.5, when used in debug mode, allows an attacker to recover the NVD API Key from a log file.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.owasp:dependency-check-ant | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.6 | 9.0.6org.owasp:dependency-check-ant:9.0.6 |
| ☕Maven | org.owasp:dependency-check-cli | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.6 | 9.0.6org.owasp:dependency-check-cli:9.0.6 |
| ☕Maven | org.owasp:dependency-check-maven | ≥ 9.0.0&&< 9.0.6 | 9.0.6org.owasp:dependency-check-maven:9.0.6 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.owasp:dependency-check-ant, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.owasp:dependency-check-ant to 9.0.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-23686 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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-2024-23686 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-23686. 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-2024-23686 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-23686 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.