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Actively exploited · Published Aug 28, 2012 · Assigned by mitre

CVE-2012-4681

Critical 9.8 Exploited Ransomware

In plain English

A critical-severity improper access control in Java SE from Oracle. Attackers are actively exploiting it in the wild (listed by CISA on March 3, 2022). It has been used in ransomware campaigns. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 98.5% (higher than 99.9% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: Metasploit, public proof-of-concept code. Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.8Critical
Exploit odds (30 days)98.5%top 0.1% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildYesCISA KEV since Mar 3, 2022
Attack tooling2Metasploit, Public PoC

CISA guidance

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Federal agencies must remediate by Mar 24, 2022.

Official description

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) component in Oracle Java SE 7 Update 6 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted applet that bypasses SecurityManager restrictions by (1) using com.sun.beans.finder.ClassFinder.findClass and leveraging an exception with the forName method to access restricted classes from arbitrary packages such as sun.awt.SunToolkit, then (2) using "reflection with a trusted immediate caller" to leverage the getField method to access and modify private fields, as exploited in the wild in August 2012 using Gondzz.class and Gondvv.class.

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
n/a n/a n/a

Weakness: CWE-284 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References