CVE-2012-5783
Improper Certificate Validation in Apache Commons HttpClient
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.8
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
CVE-2012-5783- CVSS 2.0
- 5.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
CVE-2012-5783- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-2129 No score
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
EUVD-2022-2129- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-3832-9276-x7gf No score
Improper Certificate Validation in Apache Commons HttpClient
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
Note that the Commons HttpClient project is end of life. It has been replaced by the Apache HttpComponents project in its HttpClient and HttpCore modules. CVE-2012-5783 has been patched in v4.0 of the Apache HttpComponents HttpClient module.
- Record
GHSA-3832-9276-x7gf- Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2013:0270
3.7
Red Hat Security Advisory: jakarta-commons-httpclient security update
- Record
RHSA-2013:0270- CVSS 3.0
- 3.7 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2013:0680
3.7
Red Hat Security Advisory: jakarta-commons-httpclient security update
- Record
RHSA-2013:0680- CVSS 3.0
- 3.7 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Show 10 moreShow less
OSVRHSA-2013:0682
3.7
Red Hat Security Advisory: jakarta-commons-httpclient security update
- Record
RHSA-2013:0682- CVSS 3.0
- 3.7 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVRHSA-2014:0224
3.7
Red Hat Security Advisory: redhat-support-plugin-rhev security update
- Record
RHSA-2014:0224- CVSS 3.0
- 3.7 Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2025-1751328213 No score
TuxCare security update for commons-httpclient:commons-httpclient (1 CVE)
TuxCare rebuilt commons-httpclient:commons-httpclient to address 1 CVE. Fixed in 3.1.tuxcare.1.
- Record
CLSA-2025-1751328213- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV No score
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
CVE-2012-5783- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2012-5783 No score
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2012-5783- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-3832-9276-x7gf No score
Improper Certificate Validation in Apache Commons HttpClient
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
Note that the Commons HttpClient project is end of life. It has been replaced by the Apache HttpComponents project in its HttpClient and HttpCore modules. CVE-2012-5783 has been patched in v4.0 of the Apache HttpComponents HttpClient module.
- Record
GHSA-3832-9276-x7gf- Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVMGASA-2013-0199 No score
Updated jakarta-commons-httpclient package fixes security vulnerability
The Jakarta Commons HttpClient component did not verify that the server hostname matched the domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field in X.509 certificates. This could allow a man-in-the-middle attacker to spoof an SSL server if they had a certificate that was valid for any domain name (CVE-2012-5783).
- Record
MGASA-2013-0199- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:10381-1 No score
apache-commons-httpclient-3.1-8.5 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the apache-commons-httpclient-3.1-8.5 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:10381-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2012-5783 No score
Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2012-5783- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-2769-1 No score
commons-httpclient vulnerabilities
It was discovered that Apache Commons HttpClient did not properly verify the Common Name or subjectAltName fields of X.509 certificates. An attacker could exploit this to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack to view sensitive information or alter encrypted communications. This issue only affected Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. (CVE-2012-5783)
Florian Weimer discovered the fix for CVE-2012-5783 was incomplete for Apache Commons HttpClient. An attacker could exploit this to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack to view sensitive information or alter encrypted communications. This issue only affected Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. (CVE-2012-6153)
Subodh Iyengar and Will Shackleton discovered the fix for CVE-2012-5783 was incomplete for Apache Commons HttpClient. An attacker could exploit this to perform a machine-in-the-middle attack to view sensitive information or alter encrypted communications. (CVE-2014-3577)
It was discovered that Apache Commons HttpClient did not properly handle read timeouts during HTTPS handshakes. A remote attacker could trigger this flaw to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2015-5262)
- Record
USN-2769-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
commons-httpclient:commons-httpclientMaven |
3.0 up to 4.0 | 4.0 |
commons-httpclient:commons-httpclientTuxCare:Maven |
3.1 up to 3.1.tuxcare.1 | 3.1.tuxcare.1 |
commons-httpclientDebian:12 |
before 3.1-10.1 | 3.1-10.1 |
commons-httpclientDebian:13 |
before 3.1-10.1 | 3.1-10.1 |
commons-httpclientDebian:14 |
before 3.1-10.1 | 3.1-10.1 |
commons-httpclientDebian:6.0 |
before 3.1-9+deb6u1, plus listed versions 3.1-9 |
3.1-9+deb6u1 |
commons-httpclient:commons-httpclientMaven |
3.0 and later, plus listed versions 200204233.0.13.13.1-alpha13.1-beta1 Show 4 moreShow less3.1-jenkins-13.1-jenkins-23.1-jenkins-33.1-rc1 |
None known |
jakarta-commons-httpclientMageia:2 |
before 3.1-3.1.mga2 | 3.1-3.1.mga2 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server |
before 1:3.0-7jpp.2 | 1:3.0-7jpp.2 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server |
before 1:3.0-7jpp.2 | 1:3.0-7jpp.2 |
Show 31 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
jakarta-commons-httpclient-demoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server |
before 1:3.0-7jpp.2 | 1:3.0-7jpp.2 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-javadocRed Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server |
before 1:3.0-7jpp.2 | 1:3.0-7jpp.2 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-manualRed Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server |
before 1:3.0-7jpp.2 | 1:3.0-7jpp.2 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-demoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-javadocRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-manualRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-demoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-javadocRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-manualRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-demoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-javadocRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-manualRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-debuginfoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-demoRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-javadocRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclient-manualRed Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation |
before 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 | 1:3.1-0.7.el6_3 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el4 |
before 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el4 | 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el4 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el5 |
before 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el5 | 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el5 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el6 |
before 1:3.1-2_patch_01.ep5.el6 | 1:3.1-2_patch_01.ep5.el6 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el5 |
before 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el5 | 1:3.1-2.1_patch_01.ep5.el5 |
jakarta-commons-httpclientRed Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el6 |
before 1:3.1-2_patch_01.ep5.el6 | 1:3.1-2_patch_01.ep5.el6 |
redhat-support-plugin-rhevRed Hat:rhev_manager:3 |
before 0:3.3.0-14.el6ev | 0:3.3.0-14.el6ev |
commons-httpclientUbuntu:14.04:LTS |
before 3.1-10.2ubuntu0.14.04.1, plus listed versions 3.1-10.2 |
3.1-10.2ubuntu0.14.04.1 |
apache-commons-httpclientopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 3.1-8.5 | 3.1-8.5 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2012-5783 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.8) in Apache Httpclient, published November 4, 2012. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 9.25%, the 95th percentile. Fixed in commons-httpclient:commons-httpclient 4.0.
References
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0681.html
issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HTTPCLIENT-1265
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-04/msg00040.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0680.html
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0868
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-02/msg00078.html
Show 37 moreShow less
securityfocus.com/bid/58073
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/79984
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0270.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0682.html
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-04/msg00053.html
lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-updates/2013-04/msg00041.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1853.html
cs.utexas.edu/~shmat/shmat_ccs12.pdf
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0679.html
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-1147.html
ubuntu.com/usn/USN-2769-1
rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014-0224.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5783
github.com/advisories/GHSA-3832-9276-x7gf
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2012-5783
github.com/apache/httpcomponents-client
advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2013-0199.html
bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8933
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013:0270
access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=873317
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2013/rhsa-2013_0270.json
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-5783
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-5783
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013:0680
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2013/rhsa-2013_0680.json
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013:0682
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2013/rhsa-2013_0682.json
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2014:0224
access.redhat.com/site/articles/425603
security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/advisories/2014/rhsa-2014_0224.json
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2012-5783
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-2769-1
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2012-6153
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2014-3577
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-5262
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2012-5783