Authorization service vulnerable to DDos attacks in Apache CFX
CXF supports (via JwtRequestCodeFilter) passing OAuth 2 parameters via a JWT token as opposed to query parameters (see: The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework: JWT Secured Authorization Request (JAR)). Instead of sending a JWT token as a "request" parameter, the spec also supports specifying a URI from which to retrieve a JWT token from via the "request_uri" parameter. CXF was not validating the "request_uri" parameter (apart from ensuring it uses "https) and was making a REST request to the parameter in the request to retrieve a token. This means that CXF was vulnerable to DDos attacks on the authorization server, as specified in section 10.4.1 of the spec. This issue affects Apache CXF versions prior to 3.4.3; Apache CXF versions prior to 3.3.10.
Affected software
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| Platform | Package | Vulnerable versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf | >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.3, < 3.3.10 | 3.4.3, 3.3.10 |
| Java / Kotlin (Maven) | org.apache.cxf:cxf | >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.3, < 3.3.10 | 3.4.3, 3.3.10 |
References
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22696
- https://github.com/apache/cxf/commit/40503a53914758759894f704bbf139ae89ace286
- https://github.com/apache/cxf/commit/aa789c5c4686597a7bdef2443909ab491fc2bc04
- https://cxf.apache.org/security-advisories.data/CVE-2021-22696.txt.asc
- https://github.com/apache/cxf
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6445001cc5f9a2bb1e6316993753306e054bdd1d702656b7cbe59045@%3Cannounce.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8651c06212c56294a1c0ea61a5ad7790c06502209c03f05c0c7c9914@%3Cdev.cxf.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8651c06212c56294a1c0ea61a5ad7790c06502209c03f05c0c7c9914@%3Cusers.cxf.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rec7160382badd3ef4ad017a22f64a266c7188b9ba71394f0d321e2d4@%3Ccommits.cxf.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rfb87e0bf3995e7d560afeed750fac9329ff5f1ad49da365129b7f89e@%3Ccommits.cxf.apache.org%3E
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/04/02/2
- CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H- Weakness (CWE)
CWE-400, CWE-918- Platform
- Java / Kotlin (Maven)
- Package
org.apache.cxf:apache-cxf, org.apache.cxf:cxf- Disclosed
- 13.05.2021
- Updated
- 11.10.2026 11:21
Sources and licenses
OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-7q4h-pj78-j7vg - CC BY 4.0
Vulnerability history: org.apache.cxf:cxf
All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.
- Total entries
- 12
- First → latest
- 11.2019 05.2022
- Without a fix
- 0
- Exploited in attacks
- 0
Severity breakdown
- Critical 2
- High 5
- Medium 5
Disclosures per year
- 2019: 2
- 2020: 2
- 2021: 2
- 2022: 6
- 2023: 0
- 2024: 0
- 2025: 0
- 2026: 0
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