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CVE-2026-33701· NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

OpenTelemetry: Unsafe Deserialization in RMI Instrumentation may Lead to Remote Code Execution

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 37/100)

  • Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.1% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 64.9% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: open-telemetry opentelemetry-java-instrumentation 2.26.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to open-telemetry opentelemetry-java-instrumentation 2.26.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

OpenTelemetry Java Instrumentation provides OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation and instrumentation libraries for Java. In versions prior to 2.26.1, the RMI instrumentation registered a custom endpoint that deserialized incoming data without applying serialization filters. On JDK version 16 and earlier, an attacker with network access to a JMX or RMI port on an instrumented JVM could exploit this to potentially achieve remote code execution. All three of the following conditions must be true to exploit this vulnerability: First, OpenTelemetry Java instrumentation is attached as a Java agent (`-javaagent`) on Java 16 or earlier. Second, JMX/RMI port has been explicitly configured via `-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port` and is network-reachable. Third, gadget-chain-compatible library is present on the classpath. This results in arbitrary remote code execution with the privileges of the user running the instrumented JVM. For JDK >= 17, no action is required, but upgrading is strongly encouraged. For JDK < 17, upgrade to version 2.26.1 or later. As a workaround, set the system property `-Dotel.instrumentation.rmi.enabled=false` to disable the RMI integration.

CriticalCVSS 9.3 · v4.0—Proof of concept Fix available
Published
Mar 26, 2026
Updated
Aug 17, 2026
EPSS
1.1% · 65th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

37

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
37 / 40 · 9.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
9.3
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • Proof of concept exists, no weaponized module
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-33701

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
linuxfoundationopentelemetry instrumentation for java

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • linuxfoundation opentelemetry instrumentation for javabefore 2.26.1

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • open-telemetry opentelemetry-java-instrumentation

    • < 2.26.1affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Mavenio.opentelemetry.javaagent:opentelemetry-javaagentbefore 2.26.12.26.1

Same product

linuxfoundation: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-54712OpenTelemetry Javaagent RMI context propagation allows resource exhaustion
    30Monitor
  • CVE-2026-54704OpenTelemetry Java Instrumentation: JDBC Auto-Instrumentation Logging Clear-Text Passwords
    26Monitor
  • CVE-2023-39951Instrumentation for AWS SDK v2 captures email content when using Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) v1 API, exposing that content to the telemetry backend
    26Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
open-telemetry opentelemetry-java-instrumentation2.26.1 · descriptionVendor (CNA)
Maven:io.opentelemetry.javaagent:opentelemetry-javaagent2.26.1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

Proof of concept available

A public proof of concept or detection signature exists. Exploit knowledge is out there; don't delay patching.

Evidence

  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:02026-04-04

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Published
  2. First PoC+8 d
  3. TodayOct 13, 2026+200 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Root cause

Data received over the network is deserialized into the language’s native object format without verifying its source. Code paths inside the object can be triggered during deserialization.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-502 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)job = pickle.loads(payload)

Fixed

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)if not hmac.compare_digest(sign(payload), header_sig):    raise PermissionError("invalid signature")job = JobSchema.validate(json.loads(payload))

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (5 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records