cbcvebase.
CVE-2014-0114
published 2019-10-03

CVE-2014-0114: It was found that the fix for CVE-2014-0114 had been reverted in JBoss Operations Network 3 (JON). This flaw allows attackers to manipulate ClassLoader…

PriorityP279high7.5CVSS 2.0
AVNACLAuNCPIPAP
ITWEXPLOITVulnCheck KEV
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
96.12%
99.9th percentile
It was found that the fix for CVE-2014-0114 had been reverted in JBoss Operations Network 3 (JON). This flaw allows attackers to manipulate ClassLoader properties on a vulnerable server. Exploits that have been published rely on ClassLoader properties that are exposed such as those in JON 3. Additional information can be found in the Red Hat Knowledgebase article: https://access.redhat.com/site/solutions/869353. Note that while multiple products released patches for the original CVE-2014-0114 flaw, the reversion described by this CVE-2019-3834 flaw only occurred in JON 3.

Affected

16 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
apachecommons_beanutils<= 1.9.1
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
apachestruts
debiancommons-beanutils< commons-beanutils 1.9.2-1 (bookworm)commons-beanutils 1.9.2-1 (bookworm)
redhatjboss_operations_network< 3.3.113.3.11
redhatstruts

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

port8080
path/struts2-blank/example/HelloWorld.action
pathwebapps/ROOT
commandclass.classLoader.resources.context.parent.pipeline.first.directory
commandclass.classLoader.resources.context.parent.pipeline.first.prefix
commandclass.classLoader.resources.context.parent.pipeline.first.suffix
commandclass.classLoader.resources.context.parent.pipeline.first.fileDateFormat
commandclass['classLoader'].resources.dirContext.docBase
  • Detect HTTP GET requests containing 'class.classLoader' or "class['classLoader']" parameter names targeting Struts 1.x or 2.x action endpoints — these are the direct exploit vectors for ClassLoader manipulation.
  • Monitor for HTTP requests setting ClassLoader pipeline properties such as 'first.directory', 'first.prefix', 'first.suffix', and 'first.fileDateFormat' — these are used to redirect Tomcat access logs to write a JSP webshell.
  • Watch for newly created .jsp files in the web root (webapps/ROOT) following suspicious GET requests with ClassLoader parameters — this is the webshell drop stage of the exploit.
  • The exploit uses HTTP GET (not POST) with crafted query parameters to manipulate ClassLoader; detection rules should inspect GET request query strings for 'classLoader' keyword.
  • The Fortinet IPS signature 'Apache.Struts.ActionServlet.Validator.Security.Bypass' covers related ClassLoader manipulation abuse in Apache Struts 1.
  • The vulnerability is in the 'class' parameter which maps directly to getClass() — block or alert on any HTTP parameter named 'class' or prefixed with 'class.' in requests to Struts action endpoints.
  • The root cause is in Apache Commons BeanUtils not suppressing the 'class' property during bean population — audit use of commons-beanutils-1.8.0.jar and versions through 1.9.2 in deployed applications.
  • ·Exploitability depends on which ClassLoader properties are exposed by the application server. Tomcat 8 exposes exploitable properties enabling RCE, but Tomcat 8 is not included in supported Red Hat products. Other servers may expose different properties with varying impact.
  • ·The Struts 1.x exploit parameter prefix is 'class.classLoader' while Struts 2.x uses "class['classLoader']" — detection rules must cover both variants.
  • ·JBoss Operations Network 3 (JON 3) had the CVE-2014-0114 fix reverted, re-exposing the vulnerability. However, later research confirmed JON did not expose the properties in an exploitable way.
  • ·Apache Struts 1 is End-Of-Life and will not receive patches for related ClassLoader manipulation issues; mitigation must be applied at the WAF/IPS or filter layer.

CVSS provenance

nvdv2.07.5HIGHAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
osv7.5HIGH
vulncheck7.5HIGH
vendor_debian7.5LOW
vendor_redhat7.5HIGH
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