GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv
c3p0 vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via unsafe deserialization of userOverridesAsString property
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.
Blast Radius
com.mchange:c3p0Real-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
Impact
c3p0 is vulnerable to attack via maliciously crafted Java-serialized objects and javax.naming.Reference instances. Several c3p0 ConnectionPoolDataSource implementations have a property called userOverridesAsString which conceptually represents a Map<String,Map<String,String>>. Prior to v0.12.0, that property was maintained as a hex-encoded serialized object. Any attacker able to reset this property, on an existing ConnectionPoolDataSource or via maliciously crafted serialized objects or javax.naming.Reference instances could be tailored execute unexpected code on the application's CLASSPATH.
The danger of this vulnerability was strongly magnified by vulnerabilities in c3p0's main dependency, mchange-commons-java. This library includes code that mirrors early implementations of JNDI functionality, including ungated support for remote factoryClassLocation values. Attackers could set c3p0's userOverridesAsString hex-encoded serialized objects that include objects "indirectly serialized" via JNDI references. Deserialization of those objects and dereferencing of the embedded javax.naming.Reference objects could provoke download and execution of malicious code from a remote factoryClassLocation.
Although hazard presented by c3p0's vulnerabilites are exarcerbated by vulnerabilities in mchange-commons-java, use of Java-serialized-object hex as the format for a writable Java-Bean property, of objects that may be exposed across JNDI interfaces, represents a serious independent fragility.
Patches
The userOverridesAsString property of c3p0 ConnectionPoolDataSource classes has been reimplemented to use a safe CSV-based format, rather than rely upon potentially dangerous Java object deserialization.
c3p0-0.12.0+ and above depend upon mchange-commons-java 0.4.0+, which gates support for remote factoryClassLocation values by configuration parameters that default to restrictive values. Those parameters are documented here.
c3p0 additionally enforces the new mchange-commons-java com.mchange.v2.naming.nameGuardClassName to prevent injection of unexpected, potentially remote JNDI names.
Workarounds
Users should upgrade to c3p0-0.12.0 or above. There is no supported workaround for earlier versions of c3p0.
References
c3p0, you little rascal — Hans-Martin Münch c3p0 documentation, security note c3p0 documentation, configuring security
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.mchange:c3p0 | all versions | 0.12.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.mchange:c3p0. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update com.mchange:c3p0 to 0.12.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-5476-xc4j-rqcv across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.