OpenjdkApplication · Sun
CVE-2009-3879
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 unspecified vulnerabilities in the (1) X11 and (2) Win32GraphicsDevice subsystems in Sun Java SE 5.0 before Update 22 and 6 before Update 17, and OpenJDK, have unknown impact and attack vectors, related to failure to clone arrays that are returned by the getConfigurations function, aka Bug Id 6822057.
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 confidenceVulnerability in Sun Java SE's X11 and Win32GraphicsDevice subsystems where arrays returned by getConfigurations() are not properly cloned, potentially allowing external modification of internal array data. This is a design flaw in how configuration arrays are returned to callers.
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
all versions<= 1.5.0<= 1.6.0= 1.5.0= 1.6.0CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Java versionRun 'java -version' and examine the output. For JDK, also run 'javac -version'. Record the full version string including update number.Affected if The version is Sun JRE/JDK 1.5.0 any update, or 1.6.0 any update, or any version of Sun OpenJDK, and the vendor is Sun/Oracle.
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Verify Java vendor and update levelRun 'java -fullversion' if available, or check the JRE/JDK installation directory for release notes or version.properties files that indicate the vendor and update release.Affected if The vendor is Sun or Oracle, and the update level is below Update 22 for 5.0 (1.5.0) or below Update 17 for 6 (1.6.0).
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Confirm platform uses X11 or Win32GraphicsDeviceIdentify the operating system: run 'uname -a' on Linux/Unix or check System properties on Windows. This vulnerability affects X11 (Linux/Unix/Solaris) and Win32 (Windows) graphics subsystems.Affected if Running on a Linux, Unix, Solaris (X11), or Windows platform with Java graphics functionality in use.
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Identify if GraphicsDevice.getConfigurations is invokedSearch application source code and compiled classes for calls to GraphicsDevice.getConfigurations(), GraphicsEnvironment.getScreenDevices(), or similar graphics configuration methods. Use 'grep -r "getConfigurations"' on source or 'javap' to inspect loaded classes.Affected if The application or its dependencies call GraphicsDevice.getConfigurations() or iterate over GraphicsDevice configurations.
You are affected if you run Sun/Oracle JRE or JDK versions 1.5.0 or 1.6.0 below the specified update thresholds, or any Sun OpenJDK version, on X11 or Windows platforms, and your application uses graphics device configuration retrieval methods.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade Java SE to Update 22 (5.0) or Update 17 (6) or later, or migrate to OpenJDK builds that include the fix for Bug Id 6822057.
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-2009-3879 — 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-2009-3879 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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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.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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