Vulnerability Database
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Risk Score
9.3
Out of 10
Summary
Identifier
CVE-2012-0391
Description
The ExceptionDelegator component in Apache Struts before 2.2.3.1 interprets parameter values as OGNL expressions during certain exception handling for mismatched data types of properties, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary Java code via a crafted parameter.
MergeBase Comment
Queue the Jaws theme music! This early remote-code-execution vulnerability in Apache Struts from 2012 happens to describe exactly the underlying cause of the 2017 Struts Disaster: an overly powerful and flexible exception handler based on OGNL ("Object Graph Navigation Library") that ran when Struts encountered bad data types.
When we say "bad data type" we mean something like this: Content-Type: (#ognlUtil=#container.getInstance(@com.opensymphony.xwork2.ognl.OgnlUtil@class))
A very bad data type, indeed!
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
CWE-20
Improper Input Validation