One of the vulnerabilities addressed by the latest update for Apache OFBiz is an unsafe Java deserialization issue that could be exploited to execute code remotely, without authentication.
A Java-based web framework, Apache OFBiz is an open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that includes a suite of applications to automate business processes within enterprise environments, and which can be used across any industry.
OFBiz is one of the platforms that was affected by a Java serialization vulnerability identified and reported in 2015, and which impacted the Apache Commons Collections and Apache Groovy libraries that OFBiz relies on.
While patches were released for both libraries, the risks associated with the use of RMI, JNDI, JMX, or Spring – and possibly other Java classes – was not eliminated. The later implementation of a whitelist was meant to add further protections from possible Java serialization vulnerabilities.
Following the addressing of an issue (CVE-2019-0189) with ObjectInputStream class, where users needed to add their own objects/classes to the list of objects used by OFBiz OOTB (Out Of The Box), Apache also implemented the option to deny objects.
Apache OFBiz 17.12.06, the sixth and final release of the 17.12 series, includes a patch for CVE-2021-26295, adding a “blacklist (to be renamed soon to denylist) in Java serialization.”
Tracked as OFBIZ-12167, the commit that addresses the security issue “adds an example based on RMI which is known to be a problem,” OFBiz expert developer Jacques Le Roux says.
The unsafe deserialization, he explains, could be exploited to execute code remotely, essentially allowing an unauthenticated attacker to successfully take over Apache OFBiz. Updating OFBiz to the 17.12.06 package should prevent possible exploitation attempts.
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