Apache Commons FileUpload denial of service vulnerabilityGHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c
HIGHFix: apache/commons-fileupload@e20c049GHSA-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload. 2 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for commons-fileupload:commons-fileupload — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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-hfrx-6qgj-fp6c.
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
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 |
Affected Products
commons fileuploadapachedebian linuxdebianResearch 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.
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?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.