JdkApplication · Oracle

CVE-2015-0491

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-16

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 5.0u81, 6u91, 7u76, and 8u40, and Java FX 2.2.76, allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors related to 2D, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-0459.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Critical vulnerability in Oracle Java SE/ Java FX 2D rendering subsystem (CVE-2015-0491) with CVSS 10. Exploitable remotely without authentication, allowing complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Different vulnerability than CVE-2015-0459 but affects same Java versions.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update (CPU) for April 2015 which includes patches for Java SE 5.0u81, 6u91, 7u76, and 8u40. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable Java browser plugins and restrict network exposure to untrusted code execution contexts.

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

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

JavafxApplication

Affected:= 2.2.76

Suse Linux Enterprise DesktopOperating system

Affected:= 11.0

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 Oracle JDK version

Run 'java -version' or check JAVA_HOME environment variable and inspect the version release file in the installation directory

Affected if The reported version is 1.5.0, 1.6.0, 1.7.0, or 1.8.0 and the update level is below 5.0u81 (for 1.5), 6u91 (for 1.6), 7u76 (for 1.7), or 8u40 (for 1.8)
Identify installed Oracle JRE version

Run 'java -version' from JRE installation or check the version property file in the JRE lib directory

Affected if The reported version is 1.5.0, 1.6.0, 1.7.0, or 1.8.0 and the update level is below the patch levels listed above for the corresponding major version
Identify installed JavaFX version

Check the JavaFX runtime installation or run 'java -jar javafx.jar' version command if JavaFX is deployed

Affected if JavaFX version is 2.2.76 or any version below the April 2015 Critical Patch Update
Check Java browser plugin status

Examine browser Java plugin configuration (in Java Control Panel under Security tab, or check browser plugin directories for javaplugin*.so or npjp2.dll)

Affected if The Java browser plugin is enabled and the underlying Java installation is vulnerable per version checks above
Verify SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop package version

Query the installed package database using 'rpm -qa | grep -i java' or check the system package manager for java-*-openjdk or java-*-sun packages

Affected if The installed Java packages correspond to version 11.0 of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop and contain vulnerable Oracle Java versions

Your environment is affected if any installed Oracle JDK, JRE, or JavaFX version falls within the 1.5.0 through 1.8.0 family (or 2.2.76 for JavaFX) and has not been updated to the April 2015 Critical Patch Update levels.

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) for April 2015 which includes patches for Java SE 5.0u81, 6u91, 7u76, and 8u40. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable Java browser plugins and restrict network exposure to untrusted code execution contexts.

Recommended fix High confidence

Java SE 8u60+ (or Java 11/17 LTS for long-term support). For JavaFX 2.2.x, upgrade to JavaFX 2.2.84+.

1. Identify all Java installations on the system using 'java -version' and checking /usr/lib/jvm/ (Linux) or Program Files (Windows)
2. For Java SE 5.0 (1.5.0): Upgrade to Java SE 5.0u85 or later, or migrate to a supported Java version (Java 8 or 11 LTS)
3. For Java SE 6.0 (1.6.0): Upgrade to Java SE 6u95 or later, or migrate to a supported Java version (Java 8 or 11 LTS)
4. For Java SE 7.0 (1.7.0): Upgrade to Java SE 7u85 or later
5. For Java SE 8.0 (1.8.0): Upgrade to Java SE 8u60 or later (8u60 contains the fix for CVE-2015-0491)
6. For JavaFX 2.2.x: Upgrade to JavaFX 2.2.84 or later
7. Verify the upgrade by running 'java -version' and confirming the updated patch level
8. For SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 and openSUSE 13.2: Apply vendor security updates via 'zypper patch' or 'zypper update java-*'

Caveat Java 5 and 6 are End-of-Life and no longer receive Oracle patches; migrating to Java 8+ may require code compatibility testing. JavaFX 2.2 is also End-of-Life; consider migrating to JavaFX 11+ or OpenJFX.

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

Fix this in Jdk Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation4.0 h
Implementation8.0 h
Testing6.0 h
Review / QA2.0 h

20.0 hours of engineering $3,500

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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-2015-0491 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2015-0491?

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 5.6%

Affects: Jdk

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Fix this in Jdk 20 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $3,500

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2015-0491 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