Attacks on Maven proxy repositories

The exploration of security vulnerabilities in Maven repository managers reveals significant risks associated with supply chain attacks. The research highlights how exploiting these vulnerabilities, such as arbitrary file read and write, stored XSS, and path traversal, can compromise major repositories like Maven Central, posing a threat to Java applications. Maven, a popular tool for managing Java project dependencies, relies on downloading artifacts from repositories, making their security crucial. The study uncovers potential exploits through crafted artifacts that can lead to remote code execution and artifact poisoning, emphasizing the need for rigorous security measures. Despite being maintained by reputable companies with strong security programs, products like Sonatype Nexus and JFrog Artifactory are still susceptible to critical vulnerabilities. These findings underscore the broader implications for other dependency ecosystems, encouraging further examination of proxy repository functionalities across various platforms to prevent similar security breaches.