J2seApplication · Sun

CVE-2005-1974

MEDIUM · 5.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-06-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
60/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Unspecified vulnerability in Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 and 5.0 Update 1 and J2SE 1.4.2 up to 1.4.2_07, as used in multiple products and platforms including (1) HP-UX and (2) APC PowerChute, allows applications to assign permissions to themselves and gain privileges.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in J2SE allows untrusted applications to assign permissions to themselves, bypassing Java's sandbox security model and gaining elevated privileges. This is a privilege escalation issue within the Java security mechanism.

MitigationUpgrade Java to a version beyond J2SE 5.0 Update 1 or 1.4.2_07 (or apply vendor patches). Ensure applications run with appropriate SecurityManager restrictions if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
J2seApplication
Affected:= 1.4.2= 1.4.2_01= 1.4.2_02= 1.4.2_03= 1.4.2_04= 1.4.2_05= 1.4.2_06= 1.4.2_07= 5.0= 5.0_update1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed J2SE version
    Run 'java -version' from command line or check the version.properties file in the JRE/lib directory, or inspect the About dialog in Java Control Panel
    Affected if Version matches 1.4.2 through 1.4.2_07, or 5.0 through 5.0_update1
  2. Confirm Java installation path
    Check JAVA_HOME environment variable or locate java.exe in common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Java\j2re or /usr/java/
    Affected if The Java installation resolves to an affected version from step 1
  3. Determine if SecurityManager is in use
    Review application startup scripts, deployment descriptors, or run 'System.getSecurityManager()' in a test application to check if a SecurityManager is actively enforced
    Affected if A SecurityManager is configured (the vulnerability allows bypassing this sandbox protection)

You are affected if you are running any J2SE version between 1.4.2 and 1.4.2_07 inclusive, or between 5.0 and 5.0_update1 inclusive, particularly in environments where untrusted code may run with SecurityManager restrictions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Java to a version beyond J2SE 5.0 Update 1 or 1.4.2_07 (or apply vendor patches). Ensure applications run with appropriate SecurityManager restrictions if upgrade is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in J2se Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2005-1974 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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