CVE-2026-33701 PUBLISHED

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

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 23.03.2026 Published: 27.03.2026 Updated: 27.03.2026

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.

Metrics

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
CVSS Score: 9.3

Product Status

Vendor open-telemetry
Product opentelemetry-java-instrumentation
Versions
  • Version < 2.26.1 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data CWE