CVE-2021-35517 — Apache Commons Compress 1.1 to 1.20 denial of service vulnerability
When reading a specially crafted TAR archive, Compress can be made to allocate large amounts of memory that finally leads to an out of memory error even for very small inputs. This could be used to mount a denial of service attack against services that use Compress' tar package.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 10.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+14
- Technical severity (high)+6
- Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
- Documented patch — www.oracle.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — www.oracle.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — www.oracle.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
- Documented patch — www.oracle.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Apache Software Foundation Commons Compress, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Oncommand Insight…).
- The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
- Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
- EPSS ahead of 96% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
- Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (denial of service), errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Software Foundation | Commons Compress | ≥ 1.1 and < Apache Commons Compress* | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| Apache Software Foundation | Commons Compress | ≥ 1.1 and ≤ 1.20 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Netapp | Active Iq Unified Manager | versions not specified by the source | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Netapp | Oncommand Insight | versions not specified by the source | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Apis | ≥ 18.1 and ≤ 18.3version 21.1version 20.1version 19.2version 19.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Digital Experience | ≥ 18.1 and ≤ 18.3version 21.1version 20.1version 19.2version 19.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Enterprise Default Management | version 2.7.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Party Management | version 2.7.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Payments | version 14.5 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Trade Finance | version 14.5 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Banking Treasury Management | version 14.5 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Business Process Management Suite | version 12.2.1.4.0version 12.2.1.3.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Commerce Guided Search | version 11.3.2 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Billing And Revenue Management | version 12.0.0.4 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Cloud Native Core Service Communication Proxy | version 1.14.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Cloud Native Core Unified Data Repository | version 1.14.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Diameter Intelligence Hub | ≥ 8.0.0 and ≤ 8.2.3 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Messaging Server | version 8.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Communications Session Route Manager | ≥ 8.0.0 and ≤ 8.2.5 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Financial Services Crime And Compliance Management Studio | version 8.0.8.3.0version 8.0.8.2.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Financial Services Enterprise Case Management | version 8.0.7.2.0version 8.0.8.1.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Flexcube Universal Banking | version 14.5version 12.4≥ 14.0.0 and ≤ 14.3.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Healthcare Data Repository | version 8.1.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Insurance Policy Administration | version 11.3.0version 11.0.2version 11.1.0version 11.2.8version 11.3.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Peoplesoft Enterprise Peopletools | version 8.59version 8.58version 8.57 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Primavera Unifier | version 20.12version 19.12version 18.8≥ 17.7 and ≤ 17.12 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | Utilities Testing Accelerator | version 6.0.0.1.1version 6.0.0.2.2version 6.0.0.3.1 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| Oracle | WebCenter Portal | version 12.2.1.4.0version 12.2.1.3.0 | Vulnerable | NIST National Vulnerability Database |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.5 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 3.9 | 3.6 | nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 5.0 | CVSS 2.0 | Medium | 10.0 | 2.9 | nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
CWE-770 · Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
EPSS over time FIRST
Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 10.61%
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
- Track CPU/memory spikes and availability drops correlated with request patterns.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- Affected products added · apache software foundation/apache commons compress
- SSVC assessment updated
- Record published
- Fix documented
- CVSS changed · 7.5
- Source status changed · → Modified
- Record created in this database
- 2021
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
References
22 on the record
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r605d906b710b95f1bbe0036a53ac6968f667f2c249b6fbabada9a940
- commons.apache.org/proper/commons-compress/security-reports.html
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r67ef3c07fe3b8c1b02d48012149d280ad6da8e4cec253b527520fb2b
- security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211022-0001/
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9f54c0caa462267e0cc68b49f141e91432b36b23348d18c65bd0d040
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/13/5
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rfba19167efc785ad3561e7ef29f340d65ac8f0d897aed00e0731e742
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb6e1fa80d34e5ada45f72655d84bfd90db0ca44ef19236a49198c88c
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r31f75743ac173b0a606f8ea6ea53f351f386c44e7bcf78ae04007c29
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r54afdab05e01de970649c2d91a993f68a6b00cd73e6e34e16c832d46
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd4332baaf6debd03d60deb7ec93bee49e5fdbe958cb6800dff7fb00e
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb7adf3e55359819e77230b4586521e5c6874ce5ed93384bdc14d6aee
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb064d705fdfa44b5dae4c366b369ef6597951083196321773b983e71
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/racd0c0381c8404f298b226cd9db2eaae965b14c9c568224aa3f437ae
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/r457b2ed564860996b20d938566fe8bd4bfb7c37be8e205448ccb5975
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/rba65ed5ddb0586f5b12598f55ec7db3633e7b7fede60466367fbf86a
- lists.apache.org/thread.html/ra393ffdc7c90a4a37ea023946f390285693795013a642d80fba20203
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/07/13/3
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- High CVE-2026-87264 Improper Access Control in Oracle Peoplesoft Enterprise Peopletools Sep 15, 2026
- High CVE-2026-83065 Improper Access Control in Oracle WebCenter Portal Sep 15, 2026
- Critical CVE-2026-83064 Improper Access Control in Oracle WebCenter Portal Sep 15, 2026
- High CVE-2026-83049 Improper Access Control in Oracle WebCenter Portal Sep 15, 2026
- High CVE-2026-83051 Improper Access Control in Oracle WebCenter Portal Sep 15, 2026
- High CVE-2026-83048 Improper Access Control in Oracle WebCenter Portal Sep 15, 2026
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2021-35517 is "Apache Commons Compress 1.1 to 1.20 denial of service vulnerability", rated High. It affects Commons Compress (Apache Software Foundation); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 10.61% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
Comments
Moderated technical discussion. Read the community guidelines.
No comments yet.
Sign in or create an account to comment and suggest corrections.