GeoNetwork Fixes Unauthenticated RCE Chain Affecting Government Geoportal Backends

Two vulnerabilities in GeoNetwork can be chained to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE) on the open-source geospatial metadata catalog, which sits behind many government and agency geoportals.

The project shipped fixes in versions 4.4.12 and 4.2.17 on July 8, 2026, and published the vulnerability details on August 31. GeoNetwork originated at the United Nations Food and