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JdkApplication · Sun

CVE-2010-0843

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-04-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 the Sound component in Oracle Java SE and Java for Business 6 Update 18, 5.0 Update 23, 1.4.2_25, and 1.3.1_27 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors. NOTE: the previous information was obtained from the March 2010 CPU. Oracle has not commented on claims from a reliable researcher that this is related to XNewPtr and improper handling of an integer parameter when allocating heap memory in the com.sun.media.sound libraries, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.

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 confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the com.sun.media.sound library's XNewPtr memory allocation function. Improper handling of an integer parameter during heap memory allocation allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via the Sound component in Java SE versions 6 Update 18, 5.0 Update 23, 1.4.2_25, and 1.3.1_27.

MitigationUpgrade to a supported Java version (Java 8 or later) as these legacy versions (1.3.1, 1.4.2, 5.0, 6) are no longer supported by Oracle. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, apply Oracle's March 2010 CPU patch if available for the specific version.

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
JdkApplication
Affected:= 1.5.0= 1.6.0
JreApplication
Affected:= 1.3.1_27= 1.4.2_25= 1.5.0= 1.6.0
SdkApplication
Affected:= 1.3.1_27= 1.4.2_25

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Java version
    Run 'java -version' or 'javac -version' from command line to get the exact version string
    Affected if Version shows 1.3.1_x, 1.4.2_x, 1.5.0_x, or 1.6.0_x where x is 25 or lower for 1.4.2, 26 or lower for 1.3.1, or any update for 1.5.0/1.6.0 up to Update 18
  2. Locate Java installation directory
    On Windows check JAVA_HOME environment variable or typical paths like C:\Program Files\Java\. On Linux/Unix run 'which java' and 'dirname $(which java)' to find the JRE/JDK installation root
    Affected if Installation path contains legacy Sun Java directories (not Oracle) and version matches affected ranges
  3. Verify vulnerable sound library exists
    Check for presence of the JAR file containing com.sun.media.sound classes. In the JRE/lib directory, look for sound.jar or in JDK check JRE/lib/sound.jar. Use command: 'find /path/to/java -name "sound.jar" 2>/dev/null' (Linux) or 'dir /s sound.jar' (Windows)
    Affected if sound.jar exists in the Java installation and the Java version is in the affected list
  4. Confirm Sound component is loaded
    For applications using the Java Sound API, run the application with verbose class loading: 'java -verbose:class YourApp 2>&1 | grep -i sound' to see if com.sun.media.sound classes are loaded at runtime
    Affected if com.sun.media.sound classes load successfully and Java version matches affected versions

A system is affected if it runs any Sun Java version 1.3.1_update27 or earlier, 1.4.2_update25 or earlier, 1.5.0_any update, or 1.6.0_update18 or earlier, with the Sound library (sound.jar) present and accessible.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a supported Java version (Java 8 or later) as these legacy versions (1.3.1, 1.4.2, 5.0, 6) are no longer supported by Oracle. If upgrade is not immediately feasible, apply Oracle's March 2010 CPU patch if available for the specific version.

Fix this in Jdk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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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-2010-0843 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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