XStream can cause a Denial of Service by injecting deeply nested objects raising a stack overflowGHSA-f8cc-g7j8-xxpm
HIGHGHSA-f8cc-g7j8-xxpm is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-121 vulnerability in com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-f8cc-g7j8-xxpm.
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
com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstreamReal-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
The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to terminate the application with a stack overflow error resulting in a denial of service only by manipulating the processed input stream.
Patches
XStream 1.4.20 handles the stack overflow and raises an InputManipulationException instead.
Workarounds
The only solution is to catch the StackOverflowError in the client code calling XStream.
References
See full information about the nature of the vulnerability and the steps to reproduce it in XStream's documentation for CVE-2022-40151.
Credits
The vulnerability was discovered and reported by Henry Lin of the Google OSS-Fuzz team.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in XStream
- Contact us at XStream Google Group
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream | all versions | 1.4.20com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream:1.4.20 |
Affected Products
xstreamxstreamResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream to 1.4.20 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-f8cc-g7j8-xxpm is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.
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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| OCP-Tools-4.13-RHEL-8 | jenkins-0:2.387.3.1684911776-3.el8 | RHSA-2023:3299 |
| RHINT Camel-Q 2.13.2 | xstream | RHSA-2023:0469 |
| RHINT Camel-Springboot 3.20.1 | xstream | RHSA-2023:2100 |
| RHPAM 7.13.5 async | xstream | RHSA-2024:1353 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-f8cc-g7j8-xxpm in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.