CVE-2019-16335
jackson-databind: Serialization gadgets in com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.0
Review impact separately from score.
Published · September 15, 2019
Updated · October 9, 2026
Description
A flaw was discovered in FasterXML jackson-databind, where it would permit polymorphic deserialization of malicious objects using the HikariDataSource gadget when used in conjunction with polymorphic type handling methods such as enableDefaultTyping() or when @JsonTypeInfo is using Id.CLASS or Id.MINIMAL_CLASS or in any other way which ObjectMapper.readValue might instantiate objects from unsafe sources. An attacker could use this flaw to execute arbitrary code.
Statement
Red Hat OpenStack Platform ships OpenDaylight, which contains the vulnerable jackson-databind. However, OpenDaylight does not expose jackson-databind in a way that would make it vulnerable, lowering the impact of the vulnerability for OpenDaylight. As such, Red Hat will not be providing a fix for OpenDaylight at this time.
Satellite 6 does not enable polymorphic unmarshmalling, which is a required configuration for the vulnerability to be used. We may update the jackson-databind dependency in a future release.
While OpenShift Container Platform's elasticsearch plugins do ship the vulnerable component, it doesn't do any of the unsafe things described in https://access.redhat.com/solutions/3279231. We may update the jackson-databind dependency in a future release.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
This vulnerability relies on com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource being present in the application's ClassPath. Hikari is not packaged as an RPM for Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat Software Collections. Applications using jackson-databind that do not also use com.zaxxer.hikari are not impacted by this vulnerability.
A mitigation to this class of problem in jackson-databind is to not trigger polymorphic desrialization globally by using: objectMapper.enableDefaultTyping() and rather use @JsonTypeInfo on the class property to explicitly define the type information. For more information on this issue please refer to https://www.github.com/mbechler/marshalsec/blob/master/marshalsec.pdf?raw=true
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.0 · 7.5CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data