How severe is CVE-2024-36401?

CVE-2024-36401 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-36401?

CVE-2024-36401 affects the following packages: org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app (Maven), org.geoserver:gs-wfs (Maven), org.geoserver:gs-wms (Maven), org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app (Maven), org.geoserver:gs-wfs (Maven), org.geoserver:gs-wms (Maven), org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app (Maven), org.geoserver:gs-wfs (Maven), and 4 more. Ecosystems affected: Maven.

How do I fix CVE-2024-36401?

Update org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app to version 2.24.4 or later. Run your dependency manager's update command and verify no transitive dependencies pin the vulnerable version. Use O3 Security's SCA scanner to confirm the fix is applied across your entire dependency tree.

Is CVE-2024-36401 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 25 known exploit references for CVE-2024-36401, including 16 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-2024-36401?

CVE-2024-36401 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 94.4%, 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-2024-36401 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2024-36401 (OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools Eval Injection Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2024-07-15. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2024-08-05. The required action was: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. 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-2024-36401?

CVE-2024-36401 is classified as CWE-95 (CWE-95), Code Injection (CWE-94). These weakness types 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-2024-36401?

A Nuclei detection template exists for CVE-2024-36401, meaning automated scanners can fingerprint it. 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-2024-36401 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2024-36401 was published on July 1, 2024 and was last updated on April 10, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2024-07-15 — agencies required to remediate by 2024-08-05

☕ Maven

CVE-2024-36401

CRITICAL

Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in evaluating property name expressions in Geoserver

Also known asGHSA-6jj6-gm7p-fcvv

Published

Jul 1, 2024

Updated

Apr 10, 2026

Affected

12 pkgs

Patched

12 / 12

Exploits

25 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

94.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

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.

Blast Radius

12 pkgs affected

☕org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app☕org.geoserver:gs-wfs☕org.geoserver:gs-wms☕org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app☕org.geoserver:gs-wfs☕org.geoserver:gs-wms☕org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app☕org.geoserver:gs-wfs+4 more

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 GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to ALL GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code.

Versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the gt-complex-x.y.jar file from the GeoServer where x.y is the GeoTools version (e.g., gt-complex-31.1.jar if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.

Affected Packages

12 total 12 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
☕Maven	`org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app`	≥ 2.24.0&&< 2.24.4	2.24.4
☕Maven	`org.geoserver:gs-wfs`	≥ 2.24.0&&< 2.24.4	2.24.4
☕Maven	`org.geoserver:gs-wms`	≥ 2.24.0&&< 2.24.4	2.24.4
☕Maven	`org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app`	≥ 2.25.0&&< 2.25.2	2.25.2
☕Maven	`org.geoserver:gs-wfs`	≥ 2.25.0&&< 2.25.2	2.25.2
☕Maven	`org.geoserver:gs-wms`	≥ 2.25.0&&< 2.25.2	2.25.2

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.