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

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-33701
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-03-27 01:16:19 UTC
Updated2026-04-01 16:00:06 UTC
DescriptionOpenTelemetry 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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 9.3 CRITICAL from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.005020000 probability, percentile 0.659740000 (date 2026-04-01)

Problem Types: CWE-502 | CWE-502 CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary9.3CRITICALCVSS: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/C...
4.0CNADECLARED9.3CRITICALCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
3.1[email protected]Primary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

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

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Linuxfoundation Opentelemetry Instrumentation For Java All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Open-telemetry Opentelemetry-java-instrumentation affected < 2.26.1 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/security/ad... [email protected] github.com Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/commit/9cf4... [email protected] github.com Patch
github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/ta... [email protected] github.com Release Notes
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NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
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