CVE-2024-52046: 
Java vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Apache MINA (Multipurpose Infrastructure for Network Applications) has disclosed a critical vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-52046, discovered on December 25, 2024. The vulnerability affects MINA core versions 2.0.X through 2.0.26, 2.1.X through 2.1.9, and 2.2.X through 2.2.3. The issue resides in the ObjectSerializationDecoder component which uses Java's native deserialization protocol to process incoming serialized data without proper security checks (Apache Mailing, Hacker News).

The vulnerability has been assigned a critical CVSS v4.0 score of 10.0 with the vector string CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H. The issue specifically occurs when the IoBuffer#getObject() method is called in combination with a ProtocolCodecFilter instance using the ObjectSerializationCodecFactory class in the filter chain. The vulnerability stems from the lack of security checks in the deserialization process of incoming serialized data (Apache Mailing, NetApp Advisory).

The vulnerability allows attackers to exploit the deserialization process by sending specially crafted malicious serialized data, potentially leading to remote code execution (RCE) attacks. Successful exploitation could result in unauthorized code execution, complete system compromise, data theft or manipulation, and potential use as an entry point for further network infiltration (SecMaster).

Organizations should upgrade to the patched versions: Apache MINA 2.0.27, 2.1.10, or 2.2.4. However, upgrading alone is not sufficient - users must also explicitly configure which classes the decoder will accept in the ObjectSerializationDecoder instance using one of three new methods: accept(ClassNameMatcher), accept(Pattern), or accept(String... patterns). By default, the decoder will reject all classes present in the incoming data. It's worth noting that the FtpServer, SSHd, and Vysper sub-projects are not affected by this vulnerability (Apache Mailing).