CVE-2026-33701CWE-502insecure-deserialization

CVE-2026-33701

Critical · published March 27, 2026

CVSS v3.1
9.8
EPSS
1%
Percentile
65.6
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

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.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
9.8 · CRITICAL
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.01108 · 65.6th percentile
Weakness
CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Published
2026-03-27T05:16Z
Affected products (1)
ProductVersionsFixed in
linuxfoundation/opentelemetry_instrumentation_for_java< 2.26.12.26.1
References (6)
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 27 MAR 00:01Z
    OpenTelemetry: Unsafe Deserialization in RMI Instrumentation may Lead to Remote Code Execution
    cvelistv5