OpenjdkApplication · Sun
CVE-2009-1896
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 · uneditedThe Java Web Start framework in IcedTea in OpenJDK before 1.6.0.0-20.b16.fc10 on Fedora 10, and before 1.6.0.0-27.b16.fc11 on Fedora 11, trusts an entire application when at least one of the listed jar files is trusted, which allows context-dependent attackers to execute arbitrary code without the untrusted-code restrictions via a crafted application, related to NetX.
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 · high confidenceThe IcedTea Java Web Start (NetX) implementation incorrectly trusts an entire application if ANY ONE jar file in that application is listed as trusted in the JNLP manifest. This allows an attacker to bypass Java sandbox restrictions and execute arbitrary code by including a trusted jar alongside malicious untrusted code, granting full privileges to the complete application.
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
OpenjdkApplication
<= 1.6.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if IcedTea Java Web Start is installedRun 'rpm -qa | grep -i icedtea' on Fedora/RHEL systems, or check for the 'javaws' binary with 'which javaws' and verify it belongs to IcedTea with 'javaws -version'Affected if The javaws command returns an IcedTea version string rather than Oracle/OpenJDK
A user is affected if they are running IcedTea Java Web Start (NetX) with OpenJDK version 1.6.0.0 or earlier.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpgrade IcedTea to version 1.6.0.0-20.b16.fc10 (Fedora 10) or 1.6.0.0-27.b16.fc11 (Fedora 11) and later. Alternatively, migrate to current OpenJDK or Oracle JDK implementations which do not contain this vulnerability.
OpenJDK 8 (1.8.x) or OpenJDK 11 (LTS) or later - the vulnerability was fixed in later IcedTea releases and subsequent OpenJDK major versions
- 1. Identify the current Java version by running: java -version
- 2. Check if the system uses OpenJDK 1.6.0.0 or earlier by running: rpm -qa | grep -i openjdk
- 3. Remove the vulnerable OpenJDK 1.6 installation using the system package manager (e.g., yum remove openjdk or dnf remove openjdk)
- 4. Install a supported, secure Java version such as OpenJDK 8 or OpenJDK 11 (LTS) using the system package manager: yum install java-1.8.0-openjdk or yum install java-11-openjdk
- 5. Set the newly installed Java as the default: alternatives --config java (select the new version)
- 6. Verify the installation by running: java -version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Openjdk
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-1896 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-1896 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
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