XStream is vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Deletion on the local host when unmarshalling as long as the executing process has sufficient rights

XStream is a Java library to serialize objects to XML and back again. In XStream before version 1.4.16, there is a vulnerability where the processed stream at unmarshalling time contains type information to recreate the formerly written objects. XStream creates therefore new instances based on these type information. An attacker can manipulate the processed input stream and replace or inject objects, that result in the deletion of a file on the local host. No user is affected, who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's security framework with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types. If you rely on XStream's default blacklist of the Security Framework, you will have to use at least version 1.4.16.

Source published

22 Mar 2021 23:40:34 UTC

Source modified

7 Oct 2026 18:44:34 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

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CVSS 3.1 · 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N