JavaApplication · Sun

CVE-2005-2530

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2005-12-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 1.3.1 before 1.3.1_16 on Apple Mac OS X allows an untrusted applet to gain privileges, related to "Mac OS X specific extensions."

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 · low confidence

A privilege escalation vulnerability in Java 1.3.1_16 and earlier on Apple Mac OS X allows untrusted applets to gain elevated privileges through flaws in Mac OS X-specific Java extensions.

MitigationUpgrade Java to version 1.3.1_16 or later on affected Mac OS X systems. If Java 1.3.1 cannot be updated, consider migrating to a newer Java version (1.4+) or removing Java applets entirely from the environment.

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
JavaApplication
Affected:= 1.3.1

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
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

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. Confirm the operating system is Apple Mac OS X
    Run 'uname -a' or check system info to verify the OS. This vulnerability only affects Java on Mac OS X, not other platforms.
    Affected if The system is running Mac OS X - this CVE does not apply to Windows, Linux, or other Unix systems.
  2. Check if Java 1.3.1 is installed
    Run 'java -version' or check /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ for Java installations. Look for any Java 1.3.x installation.
    Affected if Java version 1.3.1 is installed on the system.
  3. Determine the exact Java 1.3.1 update version
    Run 'java -version' to see the full version string (for example, 1.3.1_15 or 1.3.1_16). Compare against the 1.3.1_16 threshold.
    Affected if The Java version shows 1.3.1_16 or earlier (such as 1.3.1_15, 1.3.1_14, etc.). Versions 1.3.1_17 and later are not vulnerable.
  4. Verify if Java applets can execute in the environment
    Check browser Java plugin settings or test if applets can be loaded. The vulnerability requires untrusted applets to be able to run.
    Affected if Untrusted Java applets can be executed in the browser or application environment.

A user is affected if they are running Sun Java 1.3.1_16 or earlier on Apple Mac OS X and have the ability to run untrusted Java applets.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Java to version 1.3.1_16 or later on affected Mac OS X systems. If Java 1.3.1 cannot be updated, consider migrating to a newer Java version (1.4+) or removing Java applets entirely from the environment.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Java 1.3.1_16

  1. Upgrade Java to version 1.3.1_16 or later on Apple Mac OS X
  2. This vulnerability affects Java 1.3.1 on Mac OS X specifically; ensure the upgrade is applied to all affected Mac systems running this Java version
Caveat Java 1.3.1 is very legacy software from 2001-2002; upgrading may introduce compatibility issues with older applications

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Java Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2005-2530 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2005-2530 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data