#VU108769 Resource exhaustion in ActiveMQ - CVE-2025-27533

Vulnerability identifier: #VU108769

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 7.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2025-27533

CWE-ID: CWE-400

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: Yes

Vulnerable software:
ActiveMQ
Server applications / Mail servers

Vendor: Apache Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to application does not properly control consumption of internal resources during unmarshalling of OpenWire commands. A remote attacker can trigger resource exhaustion and perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

ActiveMQ: 5.16.0, 5.16.1 - 5.18.4, 5.16.2 - 6.1.5, 5.16.3, 5.16.4, 5.16.5, 5.16.6, 5.16.7, 5.17.0, 5.17.1

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External links
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/05/06/1
https://lists.apache.org/thread/8hcm25vf7mchg4zbbhnlx2lc5bs705hg
https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/AMQ-6596

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.