CVE-2024-36401: OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools Eval Injection Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 15 Jul 2024, 14 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 99.8%
EPSS score, percentile 100 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA
- What should I do?
Required action (CISA), due 5 Aug 2024: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected: >= 2.23.0, < 2.23.6; >= 2.24.0, < 2.24.4; >= 2.25.0, < 2.25.2; < 2.22.6
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA due date for this action: 5 August 2024.
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/security/advisories/GHSA-6jj6-gm7p-fcvv
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/pull/4797
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-36401
Affected products and versions
As listed in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | >= 2.23.0, < 2.23.6 |
| Affected | >= 2.24.0, < 2.24.4 |
| Affected | >= 2.25.0, < 2.25.2 |
| Affected | < 2.22.6 |
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
OSGeo GeoServer GeoTools contains an improper neutralization of directives in dynamically evaluated code vulnerability due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions. This allows unauthenticated attackers to conduct remote code execution via specially crafted input.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2024-36401 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 15 Jul 2024.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 5 Aug 2024.
- The CVE record was published on 1 Jul 2024, 14 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical), given by its CNA.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 99.8% (percentile 100), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact total.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in evaluating property name expressions in Geoserver
GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. Prior to versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2, multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions. The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to **ALL** GeoServer instances. No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code. Versions 2.22.6, 2.23.6, 2.24.4, and 2.25.2 contain a patch for the issue. A workaround exists by removing the `gt-complex-x.y.jar` file from the GeoServer where `x.y` is the GeoTools version (e.g., `gt-complex-31.1.jar` if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-95: Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code ('Eval Injection')
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 Jul 2024 | CVE record published |
| 15 Jul 2024 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 5 Aug 2024 | CISA due date for the required action |
| 21 Oct 2025 | CVE record last updated |
References
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/security/advisories/GHSA-6jj6-gm7p-fcvv
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/security/advisories/GHSA-w3pj-wh35-fq8w
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/pull/4797
- https://github.com/Warxim/CVE-2022-41852?tab=readme-ov-file#workaround-for-cve-2022-41852
- https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOT-7587
More exploited OSGeo vulnerabilities
- CVE-2025-58360: OSGeo GeoServer Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference Vulnerability
- CVE-2022-24816: OSGeo GeoServer JAI-EXT Code Injection Vulnerability