GHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 — kafka_2.10
HIGHGHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.10. A fix is available for org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.10 — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Kafka Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability
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-mcwh-c9pg-xw43.
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-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 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.kafka:kafka_2.10☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.11☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.8.0☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.8.2☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.9.1☕org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.9.2Real-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
In CVE-2023-25194, we announced the RCE/Denial of service attack via SASL JAAS JndiLoginModule configuration in Kafka Connect API. But not only Kafka Connect API is vulnerable to this attack, the Apache Kafka brokers also have this vulnerability. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs to be able to connect to the Kafka cluster and have the AlterConfigs permission on the cluster resource.
Since Apache Kafka 3.4.0, we have added a system property ("-Dorg.apache.kafka.disallowed.login.modules") to disable the problematic login modules usage in SASL JAAS configuration. Also by default "com.sun.security.auth.module.JndiLoginModule" is disabled in Apache Kafka 3.4.0, and "com.sun.security.auth.module.JndiLoginModule,com.sun.security.auth.module.LdapLoginModule" is disabled by default in in Apache Kafka 3.9.1/4.0.0
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.10 | all versions | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.11 | all versions | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12 | all versions | 3.4.0org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12:3.4.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13 | all versions | 3.4.0org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13:3.4.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.8.0 | all versions | No fix |
| ☕Maven | org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.8.2 | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.10, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
No patched version of org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.10 has shipped for GHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
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-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43. 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.
No Red Hat products or offerings are affected by this vulnerability. This vulnerability is categorized as Important rather than Moderate due to its potential to enable remote code execution (RCE) or denial of service (DoS) in a core component of Apache Kafka—its brokers—under certain but realistic conditions. While…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Streams for Apache Kafka 3.1.0 | kafka | RHSA-2025:23417 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-mcwh-c9pg-xw43 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.