GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload. 2 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Commons FileUpload denial of service vulnerability
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-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c 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 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core☕org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core+5 moreReal-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
Apache Commons FileUpload before 1.5 does not limit the number of request parts to be processed resulting in the possibility of an attacker triggering a DoS with a malicious upload or series of uploads.
Note that, like all of the file upload limits, the new configuration option (FileUploadBase#setFileCountMax) is not enabled by default and must be explicitly configured.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload | all versions | 1.5commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload:1.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 10.1.0-M1&&< 10.1.5 | 10.1.5org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:10.1.5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 11.0.0-M2&&< 11.0.0-M5 | 11.0.0-M5org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:11.0.0-M5 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 8.5.85&&< 8.5.88 | 8.5.88org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:8.5.88 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote | ≥ 9.0.0-M1&&< 9.0.71 | 9.0.71org.apache.tomcat:tomcat-coyote:9.0.71 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core | ≥ 10.1.0-M1&&< 10.1.5 | 10.1.5org.apache.tomcat.embed:tomcat-embed-core:10.1.5 |
Research 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 commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload to 1.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c. 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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| JWS 5.7.4 release | tomcat | RHSA-2023:4910 |
| OCP-Tools-4.13-RHEL-8 | jenkins-0:2.387.3.1684911776-3.el8 | RHSA-2023:3299 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | tomcat-1:9.0.62-27.el8_9 | RHSA-2023:7065 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support | tomcat-1:9.0.87-1.el8_8.2 | RHSA-2024:3814 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | tomcat-1:9.0.62-37.el9_3 | RHSA-2023:6570 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5.7 on RHEL 7 | jws5-tomcat-0:9.0.62-15.redhat_00013.1.el7jws | RHSA-2023:4909 |
| RHINT Camel-Springboot 3.20.1 | tomcat | RHSA-2023:2100 |
| RHPAM 7.13.4 async | see advisory | RHSA-2023:4983 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.