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AGENTS.md — Apache Axis2/Java

Security Threat Model

See SECURITY.md for the full threat model, including:

  • Project description and architecture
  • Roles and trust levels (server admin, service deployer, authenticated/anonymous client)
  • Security boundaries: what is and is not a security issue
  • Attack surface by component (JSON-RPC, REST/OpenAPI, XML/WSDL, deserialization, file uploads)
  • CVE history and lessons learned (deserialization, XXE/SSRF, dependency CVEs)
  • Existing hardening measures

High-Priority Scan Areas

Modern Axis2/Java deployments serve JSON-RPC over HTTP/HTTPS as the primary protocol, with REST/OpenAPI and MCP as additional interfaces. The scan should weight accordingly: JSON processing, JSON-RPC dispatch, and the OpenAPI/MCP modules are the primary attack surface. SOAP/XML and WSDL processing are secondary.

1. JSON-RPC Processing (primary production protocol)

JSON-RPC is the primary protocol for production deployments. The JSON module provides two serialization backends (Gson, Moshi) with enhanced HTTP/2 variants, JSON-RPC message receivers that dispatch method calls to service operations, field filtering, pagination, streaming formatters, and structured error responses. Scan for:

  • Method name injection in JSON-RPC dispatch
  • Deep nesting / stack exhaustion (CVE-2024-57699 pattern)
  • Type confusion in JSON-to-Java object mapping
  • Large payload resource exhaustion
  • Reflection-based field filtering bypass (FieldFilteringMessageFormatter)

Key files:

  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/gson/rpc/JsonRpcMessageReceiver.java (Gson JSON-RPC dispatch)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/moshi/rpc/JsonRpcMessageReceiver.java (Moshi JSON-RPC dispatch)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/gson/rpc/JsonUtils.java (Gson JSON-RPC utilities)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/moshi/rpc/JsonUtils.java (Moshi JSON-RPC utilities)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/streaming/FieldFilteringMessageFormatter.java (field selection)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/rpc/JsonRpcFaultException.java (error responses)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/gsonh2/ (enhanced Gson for HTTP/2)
  • modules/json/src/org/apache/axis2/json/moshih2/ (enhanced Moshi for HTTP/2)
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/dispatchers/JSONBasedDefaultDispatcher.java

2. OpenAPI and MCP Modules (new attack surface)

The OpenAPI module auto-generates API schemas and Swagger UI from deployed services. The MCP module generates tool catalogs for AI agents. Both expose service metadata and accept configuration that could be manipulated. Scan for:

  • Information disclosure via schema generation (internal class names, field types)
  • XSS in Swagger UI handler
  • Input validation in MCP tool invocation bridge
  • SSRF via MCP stdio bridge connecting to Axis2 endpoints

Key files:

  • modules/openapi/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/openapi/OpenApiSpecGenerator.java
  • modules/openapi/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/openapi/SwaggerUIHandler.java
  • modules/openapi/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/openapi/OpenApiModule.java
  • modules/mcp-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/mcp/bridge/McpStdioServer.java
  • modules/mcp-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/mcp/bridge/ToolRegistry.java

3. Deserialization (historically most severe)

The clustering module was removed due to unvalidated ObjectInputStream deserialization on network input. Scan for any remaining paths where ObjectInputStream.readObject() processes data reachable from untrusted input, ensuring all network transports (HTTP, JMS, TCP, etc.) are considered as sources.

The remaining use of Java serialization is SafeObjectInputStream (whitelist-based) in the context externalization code — readExternal() methods on MessageContext, OperationContext, ServiceContext, SessionContext, Options, EndpointReference, and related classes. This externalization code is vestigial from the removed clustering feature and has no remaining untrusted input path in current deployments. Verify that no new code path feeds untrusted data into these readExternal() methods.

Key files:

  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/context/externalize/SafeObjectInputStream.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/context/MessageContext.java (readExternal)
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/util/ObjectStateUtils.java

4. HTTP Transport Entry Points

The HTTP transport is the network entry point for all protocols (JSON-RPC, REST, SOAP). Scan for header injection, request smuggling, and URI parsing issues.

Key files (HTTP/1.1 — primary inbound path):

  • modules/transport/http/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/http/AxisServlet.java
  • modules/transport/http/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/http/HTTPWorker.java

Key files (HTTP/2 — outbound sender via HttpClient5):

  • modules/transport-h2/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/h2/impl/httpclient5/H2TransportSender.java
  • modules/transport-h2/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/h2/impl/httpclient5/H2FlowControlManager.java
  • modules/transport-h2/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/h2/impl/httpclient5/H2StreamingRequestImpl.java
  • modules/transport-h2/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/h2/impl/httpclient5/H2ErrorHandler.java
  • modules/transport-h2/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/transport/h2/impl/httpclient5/ALPNProtocolSelector.java

5. XML Parsing (XXE/SSRF via third-party libraries, secondary)

wsdl4j and xmlschema-core create their own XML parser factories without XXE hardening. Axis2 wraps these with SecureWSDLLocator and hardened URI resolvers. Scan for any XML parsing path — especially through transitive dependencies — that bypasses this wrapping. Note: modern deployments primarily use JSON-RPC, making WSDL processing a secondary concern triggered mainly by ?wsdl metadata requests.

Key files:

  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/util/SecureWSDLLocator.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/util/XMLUtils.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/util/DefaultEntityResolver.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/deployment/resolver/AARFileBasedURIResolver.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/deployment/resolver/WarFileBasedURIResolver.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/deployment/resolver/AARBasedWSDLLocator.java
  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/deployment/resolver/WarBasedWSDLLocator.java

6. Multipart/File Upload

Migrated from commons-fileupload 1.x to commons-fileupload2 for CVE-2023-24998. Verify the migration is complete and no legacy code paths remain.

Key files:

  • modules/kernel/src/org/apache/axis2/builder/MultipartFormDataBuilder.java
  • modules/webapp/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/webapp/AdminActions.java

7. Admin Console (webapp)

The admin console has a history of web vulnerabilities (CVE-2010-3981: CSRF/XSS). Scan for common web security issues including authentication, authorization, session management, and input validation.

Key files:

  • modules/webapp/src/main/java/org/apache/axis2/webapp/
  • modules/webapp/src/main/webapp/axis2-web/

Project Structure

modules/
  json/         JSON processing: Gson, Moshi, HTTP/2 enhanced variants,
                JSON-RPC receivers, field filtering, pagination, streaming
  kernel/       Core engine: message pipeline, handlers, deployment,
                XML parsing, dispatchers, context
  transport/    Pluggable transports: HTTP, local, JMS, TCP, UDP, mail
  transport-h2/ HTTP/2 transport sender (HttpClient5, ALPN, flow control, streaming)
  openapi/      OpenAPI schema generation, Swagger UI, MCP catalog
  mcp-bridge/   MCP stdio bridge for AI agent integration
  webapp/       Admin console WAR
  addressing/   WS-Addressing module
  fuzz/         Jazzer fuzz targets (XML, JSON, HTTP headers, URLs)
  samples/      Sample services including Spring Boot deployments
systests/       Integration tests

Testing and Fuzzing

Fuzz targets exist in modules/fuzz/ covering XML, JSON, HTTP header, and URL parsers. See src/site/xdoc/docs/OSS-FUZZ.md for details.

Reporting

Security vulnerabilities: security@apache.org