Rapid7’s 2026 Global Cybersecurity Summit is now available on-demand.Watch sessions.
Rapid7

module

Apache Commons Text RCE

Try Surface Command
Back to search
Disclosed
Oct 13, 2022
Created
Jan 19, 2024

Description

This exploit takes advantage of the StringSubstitutor interpolator class,
which is included in the Commons Text library. A default interpolator
allows for string lookups that can lead to Remote Code Execution. This
is due to a logic flaw that makes the "script", "dns" and "url" lookup
keys interpolated by default, as opposed to what it should be, according
to the documentation of the StringLookupFactory class. Those keys allow
an attacker to execute arbitrary code via lookups primarily using the
"script" key.

In order to exploit the vulnerabilities, the following requirements must
be met:

Run a version of Apache Commons Text from version 1.5 to 1.9
Use the StringSubstitutor interpolator
Target should run JDK

Authors

Alvaro Muñoz
Karthik UJ
Gaurav Jain

Platform

Java,Linux,Unix,Windows

Architectures

java, x86, x64, cmd

References

Module Options

To display the available options, load the module within the Metasploit console and run the commands 'show options' or 'show advanced':


    msf > use exploit/multi/http/apache_commons_text4shell
    msf exploit(apache_commons_text4shell) > show targets
        ...targets...
    msf exploit(apache_commons_text4shell) > set TARGET < target-id >
    msf exploit(apache_commons_text4shell) > show options
        ...show and set options...
    msf exploit(apache_commons_text4shell) > exploit
Title
Rapid7 Labs

2026 Global Threat Landscape Report

The predictive window has collapsed. Exploitation follows disclosure in days. See how attackers are accelerating and how to stay ahead.

Get report