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CVE-2023-38647 — Deserialization vulnerability in...

CRITICAL

Deserialization vulnerability in Helix workflow and REST

Published July 26, 2023Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

An attacker can use SnakeYAML to deserialize java.net.URLClassLoader and make it load a JAR from a specified URL, and then deserialize javax.script.ScriptEngineManager to load code using that ClassLoader. This unbounded deserialization can likely lead to remote code execution. The code can be run in Helix REST start and Workflow creation. Affect all the versions lower and include 1.2.0. Affected products: helix-core, helix-rest Mitigation: Short term, stop using any YAML based configuration and workflow creation.                   Long term, all Helix version bumping up to 1.3.0 

Advisory Timeline

  • First published July 26, 2023 (1174 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 1142 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Maven
Update org.apache.helix:helix-rest to 1.3.0 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 1.3.0 for org.apache.helix:helix-rest -->
Maven
Update org.apache.helix:helix-core to 1.3.0 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 1.3.0 for org.apache.helix:helix-core -->

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

Affects 1 ecosystem: maven (2).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
org.apache.helix:helix-rest
maven
0.8.0, 0.8.1, 0.8.2, 0.8.3 (+16 more)1.3.0
org.apache.helix:helix-core
maven
0.6.0-incubating, 0.6.1-incubating, 0.6.2-incubating, 0.6.3 (+28 more)1.3.0

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-502
    Deserialization of Untrusted DataMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-38647?
Deserialization vulnerability in Helix workflow and REST This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-38647?
CVE-2023-38647 affects org.apache.helix:helix-rest and org.apache.helix:helix-core. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-38647 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.8

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-jhcr-hph9-g7wm

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