React2Shell: React Server Components RCE exploited within hours of disclosure
The React team disclosed CVE-2025-55182 on 3 December 2025, an unauthenticated remote code execution flaw rated CVSS 10.0 in how React decodes payloads sent to Server Function endpoints, affecting React Server Components packages in versions 19.0 to 19.2.0 and frameworks built on them, including Next.js. AWS reported exploitation attempts by China state-nexus groups within hours of disclosure. SecurityWeek reported that CISA added the flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue and that researchers observed attempted theft of AWS configuration and credential files, as well as attempts to deliver cryptocurrency miners and Mirai malware.
- React
- React2Shell
- CVE-2025-55182
- Next.js
- remote code execution
- CISA KEV
- Node.js
What the sources report
- Vulnerable versions are 19.0, 19.1.0, 19.1.1 and 19.2.0 of react-server-dom-webpack, react-server-dom-parcel and react-server-dom-turbopack, fixed in 19.0.1, 19.1.2 and 19.2.1; affected frameworks and bundlers include next, react-router, waku, @parcel/rsc, @vitejs/plugin-rsc and rwsdk (React).
- The flaw was reported through Meta Bug Bounty on 29 November 2025; React says apps can be vulnerable even if they implement no Server Function endpoints, as long as they support React Server Components.
- AWS (4 December 2025) linked early exploitation attempts to infrastructure associated with Earth Lamia and Jackpot Panda, while noting that shared anonymisation infrastructure makes definitive attribution challenging; one unattributed cluster sent 116 requests over 52 minutes to AWS MadPot honeypots, trying whoami and id, attempting to write /tmp/pwned.txt and trying to read /etc/passwd.
- SecurityWeek (8 December 2025) cited Shadowserver counting more than 77,000 IPs hosting vulnerable instances and Palo Alto Networks confirming more than 30 affected organisations.
- CISA added the flaw to its KEV catalogue on 5 December 2025 with a 26 December deadline for federal agencies, then brought the deadline forward to 12 December, a change a CISA spokesperson confirmed to The Record; catalogue version 2026.11.06 lists ransomware use as 'Known' (SecurityWeek, The Record, CISA KEV data).
- React's advisory was later updated with CVE-2025-55184 and CVE-2025-67779 (denial of service, CVSS 7.5), CVE-2025-55183 (source code exposure, CVSS 5.3) and, on 26 January 2026, CVE-2026-23864 (denial of service, CVSS 7.5).
- AWS indicators include POST requests with next-action or rsc-action-id headers and request bodies containing $@ or "status":"resolved_model".
What it means for your organisation
Server Components moved deserialisation of client-supplied data onto internet-facing servers, and one deserialisation flaw gave unauthenticated code execution across a widely used framework stack. Exploitation attempts began within hours, faster than most monthly patch cycles, and reported activity included attempts to steal cloud credential files, which turns a web application bug into a cloud incident. Teams need a dependency inventory that reaches framework internals and the ability to ship a fix the same day.
What we check
- Enumerate react-server-dom-* and next versions in deployed builds and container images, including transitive dependencies, against React's fixed versions.
- Search web and WAF logs from 3 December 2025 onward for POST requests with next-action or rsc-action-id headers and bodies containing $@ or "status":"resolved_model".
- Hunt on application hosts for unexpected execution of whoami, id or uname, reads of /etc/passwd, new files in /tmp and new processes spawned by the Node.js application.
- Review which cloud credentials and configuration files the Node.js runtime can read, and rotate any that may have been exposed.
- Confirm the follow-on fixes for CVE-2025-55183, CVE-2025-55184, CVE-2025-67779 and CVE-2026-23864 are deployed.
Sources
- Critical Security Vulnerability in React Server Components (opens in a new tab) · React (Meta) · 3 December 2025
- China-nexus cyber threat groups rapidly exploit React2Shell vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182) (opens in a new tab) · AWS Security Blog · 4 December 2025
- Exploitation of React2Shell Surges (opens in a new tab) · SecurityWeek · 8 December 2025
- Federal agencies now only have one more day to patch React2Shell bug (opens in a new tab) · The Record (Recorded Future News) · 11 December 2025
- Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (JSON feed, catalog version 2026.11.06) (opens in a new tab) · Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) · 6 November 2026