GHSA-998r-j9rx-qm8m is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) CWE-1188 vulnerability in org.apache.isis.core:isis-core. A fix is available for org.apache.isis.core:isis-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Isis webconsole module may directly query the database in prototype mode
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-998r-j9rx-qm8m.
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-998r-j9rx-qm8m 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 377,333 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.isis.core:isis-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
When running in prototype mode, the h2 webconsole module (accessible from the Prototype menu) is automatically made available with the ability to directly query the database. It was felt that it is safer to require the developer to explicitly enable this capability. As of 2.0.0-M8, this can now be done using the isis.prototyping.h2-console.web-allow-remote-access configuration property; the web console will be unavailable without setting this configuration. As an additional safeguard, the new isis.prototyping.h2-console.generate-random-web-admin-password configuration parameter (enabled by default) requires that the administrator use a randomly generated password to use the console. The password is printed to the log, as webAdminPass: xxx (where xxx) is the password. To revert to the original behaviour, the administrator would therefore need to set these configuration parameter: isis.prototyping.h2-console.web-allow-remote-access=true isis.prototyping.h2-console.generate-random-web-admin-password=false Note also that the h2 webconsole is never available in production mode, so these safeguards are only to ensure that the webconsole is secured by default also in prototype mode.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.isis.core:isis-core | all versions | 2.0.0-M8org.apache.isis.core:isis-core:2.0.0-M8 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.isis.core:isis-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.isis.core:isis-core to 2.0.0-M8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-998r-j9rx-qm8m 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-998r-j9rx-qm8m can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-998r-j9rx-qm8m. 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-998r-j9rx-qm8m in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-998r-j9rx-qm8m across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.