ApacheMQ Authentication Flaw Let Unauthorized Users Perform Multiple Actions

Apache ActiveMQ is a Java based communication management tool for communicating with multiple components in a server.

It is an open-source widely used messaging service that can be used to send messages between two or more applications.

However, Apache ActiveMQ has been discovered with a critical flaw in its authentication that could allow literally anyone to perform malicious actions on the vulnerable instance.

This vulnerability has been assigned with CVE-2024-32114 and the severity has been given as 8.5 (High).

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Technical Analysis – CVE-2024-32114

According to the reports shared with Cyber Security News, this vulnerability exists due to the default configuration on Apache ActiveMQ which does not properly secure the API web context where the Jolokia JMX REST API and the Message REST API are located. 

This arises specifically because the API web request does not require authentication, allowing access to anyone.

Moreover, this could allow a threat actor to interact with the Jolokia JMX REST API and perform actions like producing a message, consuming a message, or purging or deleting destinations using the Message REST API. 

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To prevent this vulnerability, users of Apache ActiveMQ are recommended to update the default conf/jetty.xml configuration file with the below code for adding authentication requirements.

As an alternative, users can upgrade their Apache ActiveMQ to version 6.1.2, which has an updated default configuration with authentication.

Apache has also released a security advisory for addressing this vulnerability.

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