OpenjdkApplication · Oracle
CVE-2014-8873
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 · uneditedA .desktop file in the Debian openjdk-7 package 7u79-2.5.5-1~deb8u1 includes a MIME type registration that is added to /etc/mailcap by mime-support, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a JAR file.
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 confidenceA .desktop file in the Debian openjdk-7 package (7u79-2.5.5-1~deb8u1) registers a MIME type that gets added to /etc/mailcap by mime-support. This improper MIME type handling allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by tricking applications into processing a malicious JAR file through the mailcap mechanism.
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
= 1.7.0CVSS 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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Identify your operating systemRun: cat /etc/os-release or lsb_release -a to determine if you are using Debian or a Debian-based distribution (like Ubuntu)Affected if The system is Debian 8 (jessie) or a derivative with the vulnerable openjdk-7 package
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Check if openjdk-7 is installedRun: dpkg -l | grep openjdk-7 or which java followed by java -version to identify installed Java packages and their versionsAffected if OpenJDK 7 version 1.7.0 (specifically packages from Debian repositories around 7u79-2.5.5-1~deb8u1) is installed
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Locate the problematic .desktop fileSearch for .desktop files related to Java/JAR handling: find /usr -name '*.desktop' 2>/dev/null | xargs grep -l 'application/x-jar' 2>/dev/nullAffected if A .desktop file exists that registers the application/x-jar MIME type for JAR files
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Verify MIME type registration in mailcapCheck /etc/mailcap for JAR-related entries: grep -i 'application/x-jar\|application/java' /etc/mailcapAffected if The mailcap file contains an entry mapping application/x-jar or related MIME types to a handler, added by the openjdk-7 .desktop file
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Confirm version is within affected rangeCompare your installed openjdk-7 version to the affected version 7u79-2.5.5-1~deb8u1 using: dpkg -l openjdk-7-*Affected if The installed version matches or predates the vulnerable Debian package version (7u79-2.5.5-1~deb8u1)
You are affected if running a Debian-based system with openjdk-7 installed where a .desktop file registers a JAR MIME type that gets propagated to /etc/mailcap, allowing applications to automatically process JAR files through the mailcap mechanism.
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 dataUpdate the openjdk-7 package to the latest patched version in Debian repositories, or remove/modify the problematic .desktop file to prevent incorrect MIME type registration in /etc/mailcap.
Fix this in Openjdk
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8873 — 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-2014-8873 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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