CVE-2017-7536

Privilege Escalation in Hibernate Validator

In Hibernate Validator 5.2.x before 5.2.5.Final, 5.3.x before 5.3.6.Final, and 5.4.x before 5.4.2.Final, it was found that when the security manager's reflective permissions, which allows it to access the private members of the class, are granted to Hibernate Validator, a potential privilege escalation can occur. By allowing the calling code to access those private members without the permission an attacker may be able to validate an invalid instance and access the private member value via ConstraintViolation#getInvalidValue().

CVE-2017-7536 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (High). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (5.2.5.Final, 5.3.6.Final, 5.4.2.Final); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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1. What is CVE-2017-7536? CVE-2017-7536 is a high-severity security vulnerability in org.hibernate:hibernate-validator (maven), affecting versions >= 5.2.0, <= 5.2.4.Final. It is fixed in 5.2.5.Final, 5.3.6.Final, 5.4.2.Final.
2. How severe is CVE-2017-7536? CVE-2017-7536 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of org.hibernate:hibernate-validator are affected by CVE-2017-7536? org.hibernate:hibernate-validator (maven) versions >= 5.2.0, <= 5.2.4.Final is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2017-7536? Yes. CVE-2017-7536 is fixed in 5.2.5.Final, 5.3.6.Final, 5.4.2.Final. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2017-7536 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2017-7536 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2017-7536 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2017-7536?
   • Upgrade org.hibernate:hibernate-validator to 5.2.5.Final or later
   • Upgrade org.hibernate:hibernate-validator to 5.3.6.Final or later
   • Upgrade org.hibernate:hibernate-validator to 5.4.2.Final or later

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