Alert - CVE-2024-53677 - Vulnerability impacting Apache Struts 2

Audience

This Alert is intended for IT professionals and managers of notified organizations.

Purpose

An Alert is used to raise awareness of a recently identified cyber threat Cyber threatA threat actor, using the internet, who takes advantage of a known vulnerability in a product for the purposes of exploiting a network and the information the network carries. that may impact cyber information assets, and to provide additional detection DetectionThe monitoring and analyzing of system events in order to identify unauthorized attempts to access system resources. and mitigation advice to recipients. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Cyber securityThe protection of digital information, as well as the integrity of the infrastructure housing and transmitting digital information. More specifically, cyber security includes the body of technologies, processes, practices and response and mitigation measures designed to protect networks, computers, programs and data from attack, damage or unauthorized access so as to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability. ("Cyber Centre") is also available to provide additional assistance regarding the content of this Alert to recipients as requested.

Details

On November 26 2024, the Apache Software Foundation released a security bulletin for CVE-2024-53677, a critical vulnerability VulnerabilityA flaw or weakness in the design or implementation of an information system or its environment that could be exploited to adversely affect an organization's assets or operations. affecting both end-of-life and current versions of Apache Struts 2^{Footnote 1Footnote 3}.

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS severity rating of 9.5 out of 10^{Footnote 4}.

A malicious actor can exploit this vulnerability to traverse system paths, upload malicious files, and perform remote code execution^{Footnote 1Footnote 2}.

The versions of Apache Struts 2 affected by this vulnerability are:

• 2.0.0 to 2.3.37
• 2.5.0 to 2.5.33
• 6.0.0 to 6.3.0.2

Note that only applications that use FileUploadInterceptor are vulnerable^{Footnote 1}. FileUploadInterceptor is deprecated as of Struts 6.4.0.^{Footnote 2}

Apache Struts 2 is widely adopted in both the private and public sectors and past vulnerabilities have had significant business impact.

The Cyber Centre is aware that a proof of concept (POC) exploit is available for this CVE. The existence of a published POC makes it imperative to take action to assess and mitigate this vulnerability.

Partner reporting

ASCS – Critical security vulnerability affecting Apache Struts2 below 6.4.0

About The Cyber Centre

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre) operates as part of the Communications Security Establishment. We are Canada's national authority on cyber security, and we lead the government's response to cyber security events. As Canada's national computer security incident response team, the Cyber Centre works in close collaboration with government departments, critical infrastructure Critical infrastructureProcesses, systems, facilities, technologies, networks, assets, and services essential to the health, safety, security, or economic well-being of Canadians and the effective functioning of government. Critical infrastructure can be stand-alone or interconnected and interdependent within and across provinces, territories, and national borders. Disruptions of critical infrastructure could result in catastrophic loss of life, adverse economic effects, and significant harm to public confidence. , Canadian businesses, and international partners to prepare for, respond to, mitigate, and recover from cyber events. We do this by providing authoritative advice and support and coordinating information sharing and incident response. The Cyber Centre is outward-facing, welcoming partnerships that help build a stronger, more resilient cyber space in Canada.