Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2015-0408

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-01-21

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

100/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Java SE 5.0u75, 6u85, 7u72, and 8u25 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via vectors related to RMI.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A critical remote code execution vulnerability in Oracle Java SE's RMI (Remote Method Invocation) subsystem affecting versions 5.0u75, 6u85, 7u72, and 8u25. The CVSS 10 score indicates trivial network exploitation with no authentication required, resulting in complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability through unspecified RMI vectors.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) January 2015 or later: upgrade to Java 7u76+/8u31+ to remediate. If immediate patching is impossible, restrict network access to RMI registry ports (typically 1099/tcp) and disable Java deserialization of untrusted data.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

Ubuntu LinuxOperating system

Affected:= 10.04= 12.04= 14.04= 14.10

Debian LinuxOperating system

Affected:= 7.0= 8.0

Enterprise LinuxOperating system

Affected:= 5.0= 6.0= 7.0

JdkApplication

Affected:= 1.5.0= 1.6.0= 1.7.0= 1.8.0

JreApplication

Affected:= 1.5.0= 1.6.0= 1.7.0= 1.8.0

Suse Linux Enterprise DesktopOperating system

Affected:= 11.0

Suse Linux Enterprise ServerOperating system

Affected:= 12.0

OpensuseOperating system

Affected:= 13.2

CVSS breakdown

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?

dbcve checks

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

Identify installed Java version

Run 'java -version' or 'java -fullversion' to obtain the exact Java version installed on the system

Affected if Version is 1.5.0 any update, 1.6.0 any update, 1.7.0 through 1.7u75, or 1.8.0 through 1.8u30 (these are below the fixed versions 7u76/8u31)
Check Java vendor and distribution

Run 'which java' and review the path (e.g., /usr/bin/java) to determine if Oracle JDK/JRE, OpenJDK, or a distribution package is in use

Affected if Vendor is Oracle JDK/JRE versions listed above, or if using distribution packages that ship vulnerable Oracle Java versions
Identify running RMI registry processes

Run 'netstat -tlnp | grep -E "1099|rmi"' or 'ss -tlnp | grep -E "1099|rmi"' to check if the RMI registry port (default 1099/tcp) or dynamic RMI ports are listening

Affected if RMI registry or any RMI endpoint is exposed on a listening network port
Check for Java RMI deserialization endpoints

Review application logs, configuration files, and network exposed Java services that use java.rmi, javax.rmi, or serialized object communication

Affected if Applications expose RMI interfaces to the network without proper access controls or authentication
Verify Java security manager configuration

Check if Java applications run with a Security Manager and appropriate policy files restricting RMI operations. Review startup scripts for '-Djava.security.manager' flags

Affected if No Security Manager is enforced, allowing unrestricted RMI method invocations

A system is affected if it runs any Oracle Java SE version 1.5.0, 1.6.0, 1.7.0 through 1.7u75, or 1.8.0 through 1.8u30, AND has RMI registry services exposed on network ports accessible to attackers.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Remediation

dbcve · scoped

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) January 2015 or later: upgrade to Java 7u76+/8u31+ to remediate. If immediate patching is impossible, restrict network access to RMI registry ports (typically 1099/tcp) and disable Java deserialization of untrusted data.

Recommended fix High confidence

Java 8 update 31 or later (or Java 7u76+/Java 6u91+ for legacy systems, though these versions are End-of-Life)

1. Identify the currently installed Java version by running 'java -version' or checking /usr/lib/jvm/
2. For Ubuntu/Debian systems: Run 'apt-get update' followed by 'apt-get install openjdk-8-jdk' or 'apt-get install oracle-java8-set-default' to install a patched version
3. For Enterprise Linux (RHEL/CentOS): Run 'yum update java-1.8.0-openjdk' or 'yum update java-1.7.0-openjdk' to apply security updates
4. For SUSE/OpenSUSE: Run 'zypper update' to apply available security patches for the java-1_8_0 or java-1_7_0 packages
5. Verify the updated Java version using 'java -version' to confirm it matches or exceeds the fixed releases (Java 8u31+, Java 7u76+, or Java 6u91+)
6. Restart any running Java applications or services to ensure they use the patched JVM

Caveat Upgrading Java versions may cause application compatibility issues; test thoroughly before production deployment. Java 5, 6, and 7 are End-of-Life and should be migrated to Java 8.

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

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation2.0 h
Implementation4.0 h
Testing4.0 h
Review / QA2.0 h

12.0 hours of engineering $2,080

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Scan for this in your stack

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-0408 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2015-0408?

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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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
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 10.0 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 6.9%

Affects: Ubuntu Linux

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux 12 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $2,080

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2015-0408 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References