Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2013-2251

Struts

Apache / Struts

Watch CVE-2013-2251 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
100.0%
First observed
11 Jul 2026
Last observed
04 Oct 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2013-2251 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Apache Struts. Apache Struts 2.0.0 through 2.3.15 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OGNL expressions via a parameter with a crafted (1) action:,...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence. Listed in CISA KEV. Also confirmed by third-party sources.

Who is affected?

Apache / Struts.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

Struts

Apache Struts 2.0.0 through 2.3.15 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OGNL expressions via a parameter with a crafted (1) action:, (2) redirect:, or (3) redirectAction: prefix.

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
18 Jul 2013
Exploitation Reported
25 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

apache metasploit cisa nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 25 Mar 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Active exploitation observed

Previdian sensor

First observed 11 Jul 2026

Previdian first observed exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability in our honeypot sensors.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 04 Aug 2023

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-25 00:00 UTC
Previdian Sensors 2026-08-09 14:22 UTC
The Shadowserver 2026-09-16 00:00 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Previdian sensors recorded exploitation attempts targeting this vulnerability. The cards and chart show volume, unique attackers, and daily activity.

336

Attempts observed

30

Unique attacker IPs

18

Attacker countries

AF · BG · CH · CN · CO · FI · FR · GB · HK · HU · IN · IR · JP · NL · SC · TH · US · YE

23

Sensors observed

CVE-2013-2251 exploitation attempts over the last 91 days

Daily events observed by Previdian sensors

Updated 09 Oct 2026

2
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
9
9
9
0
9
8
0
0
0
0
0
18
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
6
0
0
0
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
9
9
0
0
18
18
18
0
9
0
9
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
9
9
6
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
0
0
9
0
0
14
0
0
0
17
0
18
18
9
9
0
27
0
0
0
0
0
11 Jul 30 Jul 18 Aug 6 Sep 9 Oct

First observed 11 Jul 2026 · Last observed 04 Oct 2026

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Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
14
134
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/multi/http/struts_default_action_mapper.rb 28 Apr 2025
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2013/CVE-2013-2251.yaml 25 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

100.0%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') CWE-74

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 9.8 Critical

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 9.3 High

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Apache Struts 2 - DefaultActionMapper Prefixes OGNL Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

struts_default_action_mapper

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2013-2251

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 00:00 UTC

    KEV confirmed by The Shadowserver

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. 16:18 UTC

    Indicators of compromise added (30)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  3. 16:18 UTC

    Observed by Previdian sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  4. 15:02 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  5. 15:02 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  6. 00:00 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  7. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  8. 01:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  9. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2013-2251

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2013-2251",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.99998,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 336, "sensors": 23 }
}