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JdkApplication · Sun

CVE-2008-5355

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-12-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
The "Java Update" feature for Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Sun JDK and JRE 6 Update 10 and earlier; JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 16 and earlier; and SDK and JRE 1.4.2_18 and earlier does not verify the signature of the JRE that is downloaded, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via DNS man-in-the-middle attacks.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-287

The mechanism that verifies who a user is can be side-stepped or fooled, letting an attacker act as someone they're not. Everything built on top of that identity then becomes untrustworthy. Fixing it means hardening the full authentication flow, including edge cases, tokens, and secondary paths.

General guidance for the improper authentication 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
JdkApplication
Affected:<= 5.0<= 6= 5.0= 6
JreApplication
Affected:<= 1.4.2_18<= 5.0<= 6= 1.4.2_1= 1.4.2_2= 1.4.2_3= 1.4.2_4= 1.4.2_5= 1.4.2_6= 1.4.2_7= 1.4.2_8= 1.4.2_9
SdkApplication
Affected:<= 1.4.2_18= 1.4.2_1= 1.4.2_2= 1.4.2_3= 1.4.2_4= 1.4.2_5= 1.4.2_6= 1.4.2_7= 1.4.2_8= 1.4.2_9= 1.4.2_10= 1.4.2_11

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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6
Vendor patch sunsolve.sun.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Java 6 Update 11 or later; Java 5.0 Update 17 or later; Java 1.4.2_19 or later. Alternatively, migrate to a currently supported LTS release such as Java 11, Java 17, or Java 21.

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Java version by running 'java -version' in the command line.
  2. 2. Determine if the installed version matches one of the affected versions: JRE/JDK 6 Update 10 or earlier, JRE/JDK 5.0 Update 16 or earlier, or SDK/JRE 1.4.2_18 or earlier.
  3. 3. If running an affected version, uninstall the outdated Java installation using the system's package manager or the Java installer.
  4. 4. Download and install a supported, currently maintained Java version (such as Java 11 LTS, Java 17 LTS, or later) from the official Adoptium (formerly AdoptOpenJDK) or Oracle website.
  5. 5. Verify the new installation by running 'java -version' and confirming the version number reflects the newly installed release.
  6. 6. Ensure any applications configured to use the old Java installation are updated to reference the new Java home path.
Caveat Upgrading from very old Java versions (1.4.2, 5.0, or early 6) to modern releases may introduce compatibility issues with legacy applications that depend on deprecated APIs, removed features, or older behavior. Thorough testing of dependent applications is recommended before deploying in production.

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

We can identify the exact fixed release, upgrade, and verify it in staging — typical engagement from $1,950. Get the upgrade done

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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-2008-5355 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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