Apache Seata Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerabilityGHSA-3xq2-w6j4-c99r
HIGHGHSA-3xq2-w6j4-c99r is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.seata:seata-core. A fix is available for org.apache.seata:seata-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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 GHSA-3xq2-w6j4-c99r.
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.apache.seata:seata-core☕org.apache.seata:seata-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
Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in Apache Seata.
When developers disable authentication on the Seata-Server and do not use the Seata client SDK dependencies, they may construct uncontrolled serialized malicious requests by directly sending bytecode based on the Seata private protocol.
This issue affects Apache Seata: 2.0.0, from 1.0.0 through 1.8.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.1.0/1.8.1, which fixes the issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.seata:seata-core | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.1.0 | 2.1.0org.apache.seata:seata-core:2.1.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.seata:seata-core | ≥ 1.0.0&&< 1.8.1 | 1.8.1org.apache.seata:seata-core:1.8.1 |
Affected Products
seataapacheDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.seata:seata-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.seata:seata-core to 2.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-3xq2-w6j4-c99r 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-3xq2-w6j4-c99r in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.