GHSA-r937-wjx7-w2jp is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.7) Deserialization of Untrusted Data vulnerability in org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin. A fix is available for org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin — see the affected versions and patch details below.
JetBrains Kotlin: Unsafe Deserialization in Kotlin Build Cache Enables Code Execution
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-r937-wjx7-w2jp.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-r937-wjx7-w2jp by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-pluginReal-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 JetBrains Kotlin before 2.4.20 code execution was possible via unsafe deserialization in the build cache metadata
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin | all versions | 2.4.20-Beta1org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin:2.4.20-Beta1 |
Affected Products
kotlinjetbrainsDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-gradle-plugin to 2.4.20-Beta1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r937-wjx7-w2jp is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Do not deserialise data from untrusted sources: where the format allows it, restrict deserialisation to an explicit allowlist of expected types, and prefer a data-only format (JSON, Protobuf) over one that can reconstruct arbitrary objects until you can upgrade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-r937-wjx7-w2jp in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.