CVE-2008-3111
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 · uneditedMultiple buffer overflows in Sun Java Web Start in JDK and JRE 6 before Update 4, JDK and JRE 5.0 before Update 16, and SDK and JRE 1.4.x before 1.4.2_18 allow context-dependent attackers to gain privileges via an untrusted application, as demonstrated by (a) an application that grants itself privileges to (1) read local files, (2) write to local files, or (3) execute local programs; and as demonstrated by (b) a long value associated with a java-vm-args attribute in a j2se tag in a JNLP file, which triggers a stack-based buffer overflow in the GetVMArgsOption function; aka CR 6557220.
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 analysisThe application accepts input without confirming it is well-formed or within expected bounds, so malformed data can push the program into states its author never anticipated. Attackers probe these gaps to trigger crashes, bypass logic, or feed tainted values into more dangerous operations downstream. Remediating it well means validating and normalising every input at the boundary against a strict allow-list — not merely filtering known-bad values.
General guidance for the improper input validation class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
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= 5.0= 6= 1.4= 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= 1.4.2_8= 1.4.2_9= 1.4.2_10= 1.4.2_11= 1.4= 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= 1.4.2_08= 1.4.2_09= 1.4.2_10CVSS 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
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 · scopedJDK/JRE 6 Update 4+, JDK/JRE 5.0 Update 16+, or SDK/JRE 1.4.2_18+
- 1. Identify all Java installations on the system using 'java -version' or checking installation directories
- 2. Uninstall or remove the vulnerable Java versions (JDK/JRE 5.0, JDK/JRE 6 before Update 4, SDK/JRE 1.4.x before 1.4.2_18)
- 3. Download the fixed Java version from the official Oracle Sun archives or Oracle Technology Network
- 4. Install the appropriate fixed version: JDK/JRE 6 Update 4 or later, JDK/JRE 5.0 Update 16 or later, or SDK/JRE 1.4.2_18 or later
- 5. Verify the installation by running 'java -version' to confirm the updated version is active
- 6. Ensure any applications configured to use the old Java path are updated to reference the new installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-3111 — 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- sunsolve.sun.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- secunia.com
- www.vupen.com
- www.vupen.com
- sunsolve.sun.com
- lists.apple.com
- lists.opensuse.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- lists.opensuse.org
- marc.info
- secunia.com
- security.gentoo.org
- support.apple.com
- support.apple.com
- www.redhat.com
- www.redhat.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securityfocus.com
- www.securitytracker.com
- www.us-cert.gov
- www.vmware.com
- www.zerodayinitiative.com
- exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com
- oval.cisecurity.org
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3111 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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