OSGeo · GeoServer
CVE-2024-36401
Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in evaluating property name expressions in Geoserver
What it is
GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Prior to versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2, multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions.
The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to **ALL** GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code.
Versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the `gt-complex-x.y.jar` file from the GeoServer where `x.y` is the GeoTools version (e.g., `gt-complex-31.1.jar` if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.
CISA: OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools contains an improper neutralization of directives in dynamically evaluated code vulnerability due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions. This allows unauthenticated attackers to conduct remote code execution via specially crafted input.
What to do
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Deadline for US federal agencies: August 5, 2024
- Added to the CISA list
- July 15, 2024
- Published
- July 1, 2024
- Severity
- Critical 9.8 CVSS 3.1
- Chance of attacks in the next 30 days (EPSS)
- 99.8% in the top 0.1% of all known vulnerabilities
- Weakness
- CWE-95
- More details
- NVD · CVE.org · CISA
All references (5)
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/security/advisories/GHSA-6jj6-gm7p-fcvv
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/security/advisories/GHSA-w3pj-wh35-fq8w
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/pull/4797
- https://github.com/Warxim/CVE-2022-41852?tab=readme-ov-file#workaround-for-cve-2022-41852
- https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOT-7587
More exploited flaws from OSGeo
| Added | Vulnerability | Product | Severity | Attack chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 11, 2025 | Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference | GeoServer | High 8.2 | 61% |
| Jun 26, 2024 | GeoServer JAI-EXT Code Injection | JAI-EXT | Critical 10.0 | 99.9% |
Sources: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (CISA, public domain), CVE records (cve.org) and EPSS (FIRST). The chance of attacks is the EPSS estimate that someone will try to exploit the flaw in the next 30 days.