Threats / Red Hat / CVE-2017-12149
CVE-2017-12149
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Red Hat JBoss Application Server vulnerability
JBoss Application Server in Red Hat Enterprise Application Platform 5.2 allows remote code execution through deserialization of untrusted serialized data.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
Unsafe deserialization vulnerability enabling arbitrary code execution. High exploitation prevalence with active ransomware deployment. Affects JBoss Application Server deployments requiring immediate patching.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-12-103Ransomware use Flagged3EPSS 0.90713 (verify live)4Exploit Weaponized · public PoC5
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Fully weaponized — public exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
81 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-12-10), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.90713 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Red Hat, JBoss Application Server. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-502 Deserialization of Untrusted Data — weakness family: Injection.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft malicious serialized Java objects designed to execute code during deserialization.
Business
Attackers gain initial remote code execution capability against exposed JBoss instances.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I send the serialized payload to the vulnerable JBoss server, which deserializes it without validation.
Business
The application server processes untrusted data, triggering arbitrary command execution with server privileges.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I establish persistence and lateral movement within the compromised environment.
Business
Attackers deploy ransomware across the infrastructure, encrypting critical business data and systems.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I exfiltrate sensitive data and demand ransom payment.
Business
Organization faces operational shutdown, data loss, regulatory fines, and reputational damage.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05