/Vulnerability Library

Apache ActiveMQ < 5.16.5/5.17.3 - Remote Code Execution

CVE-2022-41678
Verified

Description

Once an user is authenticated on Jolokia, he can potentially trigger arbitrary code execution. In details, in ActiveMQ configurations, jetty allows org.jolokia.http.AgentServlet to handler request to /api/jolokia org.jolokia.http.HttpRequestHandler#handlePostRequest is able to create JmxRequest through JSONObject. And calls to org.jolokia.http.HttpRequestHandler#executeRequest. Into deeper calling stacks, org.jolokia.handler.ExecHandler#doHandleRequest can be invoked through refection. This could lead to RCE through via various mbeans. One example is unrestricted deserialization in jdk.management.jfr.FlightRecorderMXBeanImpl which exists on Java version above 11. 1 Call newRecording. 2 Call setConfiguration. And a webshell data hides in it. 3 Call startRecording. 4 Call copyTo method. The webshell will be written to a .jsp file. The mitigation is to restrict (by default) the actions authorized on Jolokia, or disable Jolokia. A more restrictive Jolokia configuration has been defined in default ActiveMQ distribution. We encourage users to upgrade to ActiveMQ distributions version including updated Jolokia configuration: 5.16.6, 5.17.4, 5.18.0, 6.0.0.

Severity

High

CVSS Score

8.8

Exploit Probability

93%

Published Date

March 31, 2026

Template Author

maciejklimek

CVE-2022-41678.yaml
id: CVE-2022-41678

info:
  name: Apache ActiveMQ < 5.16.5/5.17.3 - Remote Code Execution
  author: maciejklimek
  severity: high
  description: |
    Once an user is authenticated on Jolokia, he can potentially trigger arbitrary code execution.  In details, in ActiveMQ configurations, jetty allows org.jolokia.http.AgentServlet to handler request to /api/jolokia org.jolokia.http.HttpRequestHandler#handlePostRequest is able to create JmxRequest through JSONObject. And calls to org.jolokia.http.HttpRequestHandler#executeRequest. Into deeper calling stacks, org.jolokia.handler.ExecHandler#doHandleRequest can be invoked through refection. This could lead to RCE through via various mbeans. One example is unrestricted deserialization in jdk.management.jfr.FlightRecorderMXBeanImpl which exists on Java version above 11. 1 Call newRecording. 2 Call setConfiguration. And a webshell data hides in it. 3 Call startRecording. 4 Call copyTo method. The webshell will be written to a .jsp file. The mitigation is to restrict (by default) the actions authorized on Jolokia, or disable Jolokia. A more restrictive Jolokia configuration has been defined in default ActiveMQ distribution. We encourage users to upgrade to ActiveMQ distributions version including updated Jolokia configuration: 5.16.6, 5.17.4, 5.18.0, 6.0.0.
  impact: |
    Authenticated attackers can execute arbitrary code on the server, potentially leading to full system compromise.
  remediation: Restrict or disable Jolokia, and upgrade to ActiveMQ version 5.16.6, 5.17.4, 5.18.0, or 6.0.0 with updated Jolokia configuration.
  reference:
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41678
    - https://activemq.apache.org/security-advisories.data/CVE-2022-41678-announcement.txt
    - https://l3yx.github.io/2023/11/29/Apache-ActiveMQ-Jolokia-%E8%BF%9C%E7%A8%8B%E4%BB%A3%E7%A0%81%E6%89%A7%E8%A1%8C%E6%BC%8F%E6%B4%9E-CVE-2022-41678-%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90/
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    cvss-score: 8.8
    cve-id: CVE-2022-41678
    epss-score: 0.93141
    epss-percentile: 0.99799
    cwe-id: CWE-502
  metadata:
    verified: true
    max-request: 1
    shodan-query: http.title:"ActiveMQ"
    fofa-query: title="ActiveMQ"
  tags: cve,cve2022,activemq,rce,jolokia,authenticated

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        GET /api/jolokia/list/org.apache.logging.log4j2 HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46YWRtaW4=
        Origin: {{RootURL}}

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: word
        part: body
        words:
          - "setConfigText"
          - "getConfigText"
        condition: and

      - type: word
        part: body
        words:
          - "org.apache.logging.log4j2"

      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
# digest: 490a0046304402204736d6c56c98d78032fd9471b430d9fa99e22a4373c47b1979d94e41f6b36b950220219a3c732a5b32c9ae62c63f76949cf8f6625ee66b8333129d11987c5bdd739f:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950
8.8Score

CVSS Metrics

CVSS Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE ID:
cve-2022-41678
CWE ID:
cwe-502

References

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41678https://activemq.apache.org/security-advisories.data/CVE-2022-41678-announcement.txthttps://l3yx.github.io/2023/11/29/Apache-ActiveMQ-Jolokia-%E8%BF%9C%E7%A8%8B%E4%BB%A3%E7%A0%81%E6%89%A7%E8%A1%8C%E6%BC%8F%E6%B4%9E-CVE-2022-41678-%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90/

Remediation Steps

Restrict or disable Jolokia, and upgrade to ActiveMQ version 5.16.6, 5.17.4, 5.18.0, or 6.0.0 with updated Jolokia configuration.