High

XStream is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack due to stack overflow from a manipulated binary input stream

  • Disclosed: 07.11.2024
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 12:22

Impact

The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to terminate the application with a stack overflow error resulting in a denial of service only by manipulating the processed input stream when XStream is configured to use the BinaryStreamDriver.

Patches

XStream 1.4.21 detects the manipulation in the binary input stream causing the the stack overflow and raises an InputManipulationException instead.

Workarounds

The only solution is to catch the StackOverflowError in the client code calling XStream if XStream is configured to use the BinaryStreamDriver.

References

See full information about the nature of the vulnerability and the steps to reproduce it in XStream's documentation for CVE-2024-47072.

Credits

Alexis Challande of Trail Of Bits found and reported the issue to XStream and provided the required information to reproduce it.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Java / Kotlin (Maven) com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream < 1.4.21 1.4.21

References

CVSS score 7.5/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-121, CWE-502
Platform
Java / Kotlin (Maven)
Package
com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream
Disclosed
07.11.2024
Updated
11.10.2026 12:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-hfq9-hggm-c56q - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream

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.

All (37) in the archive
Total entries
37
First → latest
05.2019 11.2024
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
1

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 2
  • High 22
  • Medium 13

Disclosures per year

  1. 2019: 2
  2. 2020: 5
  3. 2021: 26
  4. 2022: 3
  5. 2023: 0
  6. 2024: 1
  7. 2025: 0
  8. 2026: 0
Severity:
  1. XStream is vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack due to stack overflow from a manipulated binary input stream this entry
    High · 7.5 CVE-2024-47072 < 1.4.21 1.4.21
  2. High · 8.2 CVE-2022-41966 < 1.4.20 1.4.20
  3. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39139 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  4. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39141 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  5. High · 8.5 Exploited in attacks CVE-2021-39144 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  6. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39145 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  7. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39146 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  8. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39147 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  9. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39148 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  10. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39149 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  11. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39151 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  12. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39153 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  13. High · 8.5 CVE-2021-39154 < 1.4.18 1.4.18
  14. High · 7.5 CVE-2021-29505 < 1.4.17 1.4.17
  15. High · 7.5 CVE-2021-21341 < 1.4.16 1.4.16
  16. High · 8.0 CVE-2020-26217 < 1.4.14-java7 1.4.14-java7
Show more (4) Showing 20 of 24

Know which vulnerabilities affect your application

With the DockRay integration and software inventory enabled, DockRay checks reported component versions against known vulnerabilities and notifies you about confirmed matches. Coverage depends on the supported technology and available advisory data.

Connect your application
DockRay newsletter

Application security in your inbox

Important vulnerabilities, actionable guidance and practical advice for your applications. Choose your technologies and follow what matters to your project.

  • A daily digest of new vulnerabilities, critical ones included.
  • Notifications about important updates.
  • Practical advice on application security and monitoring.

Leave empty to receive updates for every technology.

Free to subscribe. Unsubscribe with one click in any email.