GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description. A fix is available for org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache CXF: SSRF vulnerability via WADL stylesheet parameter
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 GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p.
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
GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p 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 379,145 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.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description☕org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description☕org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-descriptionReal-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
A SSRF vulnerability in WADL service description in versions of Apache CXF before 4.0.5, 3.6.4 and 3.5.9 allows an attacker to perform SSRF style attacks on REST webservices. The attack only applies if a custom stylesheet parameter is configured.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.0.5 | 4.0.5org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description:4.0.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description | ≥ 3.6.0&&< 3.6.4 | 3.6.4org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description:3.6.4 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description | all versions | 3.5.9org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description:3.5.9 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-rs-service-description to 4.0.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p 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 GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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.
This SSRF vulnerability in Apache CXF's WADL service description is of significant severity because it allows an attacker to manipulate server-side requests, potentially leading to unauthorized access to internal resources. By exploiting this flaw, an attacker can craft malicious requests that bypass traditional…
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-5m3j-pxh7-455p across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.