CVE-2024-23833 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.openrefine:database. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.openrefine:database — see the affected versions and patch details below.
OpenRefine JDBC Attack Vulnerability
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-2024-23833.
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.openrefine:databaseReal-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
Summary
A jdbc attack vulnerability exists in OpenRefine(version<=3.7.7)
Details
Vulnerability Recurrence
Start by constructing a malicious MySQL Server (using the open source project MySQL_Fake_Server here).
Then go to the Jdbc connection trigger vulnerability
Vulnerability Analysis
This vulnerability is the bypass of CVE-2023-41887 vulnerability repair, the main vulnerability principle is actually the use of official syntax features, as shown in the following figure, when the connection we can perform parameter configuration in the Host part
In com.google.refine.extension.database.mysql.MySQLConnectionManager#getConnection method in the final JdbcUrl structure
That is, in the toURI method call here, you can see that the Host part is directly concatenated for any verification, which can be bypassed using the address feature of mysql
That is, in the toURI method call here, you can see that the Host part is directly concatenated for any verification, which can be bypassed using the address feature of mysql
PoC
Complete instructions, including specific configuration details, to reproduce the vulnerability.
Type: MySQL
Host: 127.0.0.1:3306,(host=127.0.0.1,port=3306,autoDeserialize=true,allowLoadLocalInfile=true,allowUrlInLocalInfile=true,allowLoadLocalInfileInPath=true),127.0.0.1
Port: 3306
User: win_hosts
Database: test
Impact
Due to the newer MySQL driver library in the latest version of OpenRefine (8.0.30), there is no associated deserialization utilization point, so original code execution cannot be achieved, but attackers can use this vulnerability to read sensitive files on the target server.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.openrefine:database | all versions | 3.7.8org.openrefine:database:3.7.8 |
Affected Products
openrefineopenrefineResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.openrefine:database, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.openrefine:database to 3.7.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-23833 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-23833 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.