XStream is vulnerable to a Remote Command Execution attack (CVE-2021-29505)
Published Last modified Sources: Red Hat, BSI, CVE.org, OSV
What is affected, what to do
XStream is software for serializing Java objects to XML and back again. A vulnerability in XStream versions prior to 1.4.17 may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by manipulating the processed input stream.
Update Xstream to version 1.4.17.
- Affected
- Xstream
lt *..1.4.17
- Xstream
- Fixed in
- Xstream
1.4.17
- Xstream
Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability
Metrics
8.8
Priority
XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.
Source: NVD, CVSS v3
7.5
CVSS v3
Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.
Source: Red Hat, BSI, CVE.org, OSV
77.2 %
EPSS score
High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.55
Show all metrics
- Severity
- High
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 116.78 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS
XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.
Read in glossary- 8.8 Methodology
CVSS v3
CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.
Read in glossary- 7.5
EPSS score
The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.
Read in glossary- 77.2 %
- High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
EPSS percentile
The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.
Read in glossary- 99.55
- Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
- CISA assessment (SSVC)
- Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: total
- Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 7 October 2026
CWE
CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.
Read in glossary- CWE-94, CWE-502
Detection rules
No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
XStream is software for serializing Java objects to XML and back again. A vulnerability in XStream versions prior to 1.4.17 may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by manipulating the processed input stream. No user who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's security framework with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types is affected. The vulnerability is patched in version 1.4.17.
Source: redhat_csaf, BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal, cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affected products
The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.
| Affected versions | Fixed in | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| x-stream | xstream |
|
|
| netapp | snapmanager |
|
|
| oracle | banking_cash_management |
|
|
| oracle | banking_corporate_lending_process_management |
|
|
| oracle | banking_credit_facilities_process_management |
|
|
| oracle | banking_supply_chain_finance |
|
|
| oracle | banking_trade_finance_process_management |
|
|
| oracle | business_activity_monitoring |
|
|
| oracle | communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine |
|
|
| oracle | communications_unified_inventory_management |
|
|
| oracle | enterprise_manager_ops_center |
|
|
| oracle | retail_customer_insights |
|
|
| oracle | retail_xstore_point_of_service |
|
|
| oracle | webcenter_portal |
|
|
| oracle | webcenter_sites |
|
|
| xstream | xstream |
|
|
Vendors and products
- Debian Debian Linux
- Fedora Project Infrastructure Fedora
- NetApp SnapManager for Oracle
- Oracle Banking Cash Management
- Oracle Banking Corporate Lending Process Management
- Oracle Banking Credit Facilities Process Management
- Oracle Banking Supply Chain Finance
- Oracle Oracle Banking Trade Finance
- Oracle Business Activity Monitoring
- Oracle Communications Brm - Elastic Charging Engine
- Oracle Oracle Communications Unified Inventory Management
- Oracle Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center
Affected operating systems
| Linux | debian | debian_linux | 10.0 |
| Linux | debian | debian_linux | 11.0 |
| Linux | debian | debian_linux | 9.0 |
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 33 |
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 34 |
| Other | fedoraproject | fedora | 35 |
Weakness classes (CWE)
CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Base
The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment.
Entry at MITRE CWE-94CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Base
The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.
Entry at MITRE CWE-502
References & sources
- github.comx-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fcweb, x_refsource_CONFIRM
- NVD (NIST)vuln/detail/CVE-2021-29505advisory
- github.comx-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624fweb, x_refsource_MISC
- github.comx-stream/xstream/commit/f0c4a8d861b68ffc3119cfbbbd632deee624e227web, x_refsource_MISC
- x-stream.github.ioCVE-2021-29505.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- oracle.comsecurity-alerts/cpuoct2021.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- oracle.comsecurity-alerts/cpujul2022.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- oracle.comsecurity-alerts/cpujan2022.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- oracle.comsecurity-alerts/cpuapr2022.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- debian.orgsecurity/2021/dsa-5004web, x_refsource_MISC
- security.netapp.comadvisory/ntap-20210708-0007web, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web
- lists.fedoraproject.orgarchives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/…web
- lists.debian.orgdebian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.htmlweb, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.apache.orgthread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe…web, x_refsource_MISC
- lists.apache.org[jmeter-dev] 20210607 [GitHub] [jmeter] sseide opened a new pull request #667: update x-stream to 1.4.17 (from 1.4.16)web, Mailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, x_transferred
Changes to this CVE
Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).
Record modifiedGitHub
New references:- https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f
- https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/f0c4a8d861b68ffc3119cfbbbd632deee624e227
- https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f@%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3E
and 8 more references
Show 38 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Reference added —https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624fReference added —https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/f0c4a8d861b68ffc3119cfbbbd632deee624e227Reference added —https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fcReference added —https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f@%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3EReference added —https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.htmlReference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/22KVR6B5IZP3BGQ3HPWIO2FWWCKT3DHPReference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PVPHZA7VW2RRSDCOIPP2W6O5ND254TU7Reference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGXIU3YDPG6OGTDHMBLAFN7BPBERXREBReference added —https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0007Reference added —https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004Reference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.htmlReference added —https://x-stream.github.io/CVE-2021-29505.htmlReference removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f—Reference removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/f0c4a8d861b68ffc3119cfbbbd632deee624e227—Reference removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc—Reference removed https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f@%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3E—Reference removed https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.html—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/22KVR6B5IZP3BGQ3HPWIO2FWWCKT3DHP—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PVPHZA7VW2RRSDCOIPP2W6O5ND254TU7—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGXIU3YDPG6OGTDHMBLAFN7BPBERXREB—Reference removed https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0007—Reference removed https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html—Reference removed https://x-stream.github.io/CVE-2021-29505.html—Reference type removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004 Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory—Source identifier: security-advisories@github.com
Record modifiedCISA ADP
CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no
Show the original change
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After SSVC assessment added —{"id":"CVE-2021-29505","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-10-07T20:02:09.407822Z"}Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Record modifiedCVE Program
New references:- https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f
- https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f%40%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.html
and 8 more references
Show 39 original changes
Individual changes of this event as published by NVD Type Action Before After Reference added —https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624fReference added —https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fcReference added —https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f%40%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3EReference added —https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.htmlReference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/22KVR6B5IZP3BGQ3HPWIO2FWWCKT3DHP/Reference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PVPHZA7VW2RRSDCOIPP2W6O5ND254TU7/Reference added —https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGXIU3YDPG6OGTDHMBLAFN7BPBERXREB/Reference added —https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0007/Reference added —https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004Reference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.htmlReference added —https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.htmlReference removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f—Reference removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc—Reference removed https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f%40%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3E—Reference removed https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.html—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/22KVR6B5IZP3BGQ3HPWIO2FWWCKT3DHP/—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PVPHZA7VW2RRSDCOIPP2W6O5ND254TU7/—Reference removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGXIU3YDPG6OGTDHMBLAFN7BPBERXREB/—Reference removed https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0007/—Reference removed https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html—Reference removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html—Reference type removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/commit/24fac82191292c6ae25f94508d28b9823f83624f Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-7chv-rrw6-w6fc Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8ee51debf7fd184b6a6b020dc31df25118b0aa612885f12fbe77f04f%40%3Cdev.jmeter.apache.org%3E Types: Issue Tracking, Mailing List—Reference type removed https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/07/msg00004.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/22KVR6B5IZP3BGQ3HPWIO2FWWCKT3DHP/ Types: Mailing List—Reference type removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PVPHZA7VW2RRSDCOIPP2W6O5ND254TU7/ Types: Mailing List—Reference type removed https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/QGXIU3YDPG6OGTDHMBLAFN7BPBERXREB/ Types: Mailing List—Reference type removed https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0007/ Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-5004 Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html Types: Patch, Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html Types: Third Party Advisory—Reference type removed https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory—Source identifier: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2021-29505"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2021-29505.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2021-29505 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>