Improper Certificate Validation in proton-j

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.4 · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2018-17187: 2.54% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 84.99 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The Apache Qpid Proton-J transport includes an optional wrapper layer to perform TLS, enabled by use of the 'transport.ssl(...)' methods. Unless a verification mode was explicitly configured, client and server modes previously defaulted as documented to not verifying a peer certificate, with options to configure this explicitly or select a certificate verification mode with or without hostname verification being performed. The latter hostname verifying mode was not implemented in Apache Qpid Proton-J versions 0.3 to 0.29.0, with attempts to use it resulting in an exception. This left only the option to verify the certificate is trusted, leaving such a client vulnerable to Man In The Middle (MITM) attack. Uses of the Proton-J protocol engine which do not utilise the optional transport TLS wrapper are not impacted, e.g. usage within Qpid JMS. Uses of Proton-J utilising the optional transport TLS wrapper layer that wish to enable hostname verification must be upgraded to version 0.30.0…

Published by the source

21 Nov 2018, 22:22 UTC

Last modified by the source

4 Mar 2024, 21:32 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:26 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-xvch-r4wf-h8w9

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2018-17187

Advisory: Improper Certificate Validation in proton-j
IDs: CVE-2018-17187, GHSA-xvch-r4wf-h8w9
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2018-17187 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:26 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.apache.qpid:proton-j 0.30.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.apache.qpid:proton-j: affected >= 0.3, <= 0.29.0; fixed in 0.30.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.apache.qpid:proton-j: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on org.apache.qpid:proton-j.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xvch-r4wf-h8w9 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-xvch-r4wf-h8w9 lists affected ranges: Maven org.apache.qpid:proton-j >=0.3 <=0.29.0)

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