CVE-2017-5638

Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

CVSS 3.1 Critical 9.8Known exploited (CISA KEV)

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

Description

The Jakarta Multipart parser in Apache Struts 2 2.3.x before 2.3.32 and 2.5.x before 2.5.10.1 has incorrect exception handling and error-message generation during file-upload attempts, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted Content-Type, Content-Disposition, or Content-Length HTTP header, as exploited in the wild in March 2017 with a Content-Type header containing a #cmd= string.

Key data

CVSS 3.1 Critical 9.8

Score published by CISA-ADP in the CVE record.

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

Attack vector: Network
The vulnerable component can be reached over a network, possibly from the Internet.
Attack complexity: Low
No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.
Privileges required: None
No account or privileges are needed.
User interaction: None
No action from any user is needed.
Scope: Unchanged
The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact: High
Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data.
Integrity impact: High
Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data.
Availability impact: High
Serious or total effect on availability.

Metric	Value	What it means
Attack vector	Network	The vulnerable component can be reached over a network, possibly from the Internet.
Attack complexity	Low	No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.
Privileges required	None	No account or privileges are needed.
User interaction	None	No action from any user is needed.
Scope	Unchanged	The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact	High	Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data.
Integrity impact	High	Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data.
Availability impact	High	Serious or total effect on availability.

CVSS is owned and managed by FIRST.Org, Inc. (FIRST) and is used by permission. Each CVSS score on this site is shown together with its vector string, as published in the CVE record by the source named next to it. Learn more at first.org/cvss.

EPSS

Exploit Prediction Scoring System by FIRST: an estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days.

Score: 0.99999 (99.99% probability)
Percentile: 99.99%
Scores of: Nov 10, 2026
Model: v2026.06.15

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

This CVE is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Name in the catalog: Apache Struts Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Added to the catalog: Nov 3, 2021
Federal due date: May 3, 2022
Ransomware campaigns: Known use

CISA assessment as of Feb 6, 2025

Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC) decision points added by CISA.

Exploitation: Recorded by CISA as active
Automatable: yes
Technical impact: total

Weakness (CWE)

CWE catalog version 5.0.

CWE-755Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

Affected products

Products listed in the CVE record, as the CNA published them.

Apache Struts
- affected: 2.3.x before 2.3.32
- affected: 2.5.x before 2.5.10.1

References

Links listed in the CVE record. They lead to other sites, which CubePath does not control.

Timeline

ID reservedJan 29, 2017
Record publishedMar 11, 2017
Added to CISA KEVNov 3, 2021
Record last updatedOct 21, 2025

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Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:34 UTC. Sources and licenses