Is CVE-2021-36163 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2021-36163 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2021-36163 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2021-36163 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-36163?

CVE-2021-36163 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2021-36163

CRITICAL

CVE-2021-36163

CWE-502Published: September 7, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

9.8

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

In Apache Dubbo, users may choose to use the Hessian protocol. The Hessian protocol is implemented on top of HTTP and passes the body of a POST request directly to a HessianSkeleton: New HessianSkeleton are created without any configuration of the serialization factory and therefore without applying the dubbo properties for applying allowed or blocked type lists. In addition, the generic service is always exposed and therefore attackers do not need to figure out a valid service/method name pair. This is fixed in 2.7.13, 2.6.10.1

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2021-36163 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-502): Insecure deserialization vulnerabilities allow attackers to inject malicious objects during deserialization, potentially enabling remote code execution.