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GHSA-h8w2-rv57-vc6f

CriticalCVSS 9.3 / 10
Published Mar 26, 2026·Last modified Mar 26, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

In versions prior to 2.26.1, the RMI instrumentation registered a custom endpoint that deserialized incoming data without applying serialization filters. An attacker with network access to a JMX or RMI port on an instrumented JVM could exploit this to potentially achieve remote code execution. All three of the following conditions must be true to exploit this vulnerability:

  1. Splunk Distribution of OpenTelemetry Java is attached as a Java agent (-javaagent)
  2. An RMI endpoint is network-reachable (e.g. JMX remote port, an RMI registry, or any application-exported RMI service)
  3. A gadget-chain-compatible library is present on the classpath

Impact

Arbitrary remote code execution with the privileges of the user running the instrumented JVM.

Recommendation

Upgrade to version 2.26.1 or later.

Workarounds

Set the following system property to disable the RMI integration:

-Dotel.instrumentation.rmi.enabled=false

References

Advisory in OpenTelemetry Instrumentation for Java

Risk Scores
Base Score
9.3

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability.

Threat Intelligence
8.1

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
N/A

Probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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