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JdkApplication · Oracle

CVE-2015-4805

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-10-21
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 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 Oracle Java SE 6u101, 7u85, and 8u60, and Java SE Embedded 8u51, allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors related to Serialization.

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 · moderate confidence

Unspecified vulnerability in Oracle Java SE serialization allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted serialized objects, affecting all three security properties (confidentiality, integrity, availability). This is a critical deserialization flaw in Java's object serialization mechanism.

MitigationApply Oracle Critical Patch Update October 2015 which includes fixes for Java SE 6u101, 7u85, and 8u60 (or later). Prior to patching, consider network segmentation to limit exposure and review Java deserialization endpoints.

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:= 1.6.0= 1.7.0= 1.8.0
JreApplication
Affected:= 1.6.0= 1.7.0= 1.8.0

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check if Java is installed
    Run 'java -version' or 'javac -version' on the command line, or check for Java executables in common locations like /usr/bin/java, C:\Program Files\Java\, or /opt/java/
    Affected if No Java installation found means this CVE does not apply - however, ensure the check covered all possible Java installations on the system
  2. Identify the exact Java version
    Run 'java -version 2>&1' and note the full version string (for example: 1.8.0_45, 1.7.0_80, 1.6.0_95). Also run 'java -fullversion' if available for more detail.
    Affected if The version displayed shows a version in the 1.6.0, 1.7.0, or 1.8.0 family but the update number (the number after _u) is below 101 for 1.6, below 85 for 1.7, or below 60 for 1.8
  3. Confirm Oracle Java vendor
    Run 'java -verbose' or check the vendor string in the version output. Oracle Java is typically labeled as 'Java(TM)' or shows 'Oracle' in the vendor information.
    Affected if The Java vendor is Oracle or Sun and the version falls into the affected ranges listed above
  4. Verify Java deserialization is in use
    Review application code and configuration for use of ObjectInputStream, Java serialization APIs, or communication with services that exchange serialized Java objects (RMI, JMX, custom remoting, or third-party frameworks using Java serialization).
    Affected if The environment uses Java object serialization for network communication or data storage - this is the attack surface for the vulnerability

The system is affected by CVE-2015-4805 if Oracle Java (JDK or JRE) versions 1.6.0_u101 earlier, 1.7.0_u85 earlier, or 1.8.0_u60 earlier are installed AND the environment uses Java serialization functionality.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Oracle Critical Patch Update October 2015 which includes fixes for Java SE 6u101, 7u85, and 8u60 (or later). Prior to patching, consider network segmentation to limit exposure and review Java deserialization endpoints.

Recommended fix High confidence

Java 8u65 or later (preferably Java 11 LTS or Java 17 LTS for long-term support)

  1. 1. Identify all systems running Java JDK or JRE versions 1.6.0, 1.7.0, or 1.8.0
  2. 2. Determine the exact Java version on each affected system using 'java -version' command
  3. 3. For Java 6 systems: Upgrade to Java 7 or higher (Java 6 is End of Life and no longer receives security updates)
  4. 4. For Java 7 systems: Upgrade to Java 7u85 or later, or preferably Java 8u65 or later
  5. 5. For Java 8 systems: Upgrade to Java 8u65 or later (the fix for CVE-2015-4805 is included in 8u65)
  6. 6. Download the updated JDK/JRE from Oracle's official website or your organization's approved software repository
  7. 7. Install the new Java version on all affected systems
  8. 8. Update JAVA_HOME environment variable to point to the new installation path
Caveat Minimal for most applications; however, verify compatibility with Java 11+ if upgrading beyond Java 8 as some deprecated APIs were removed

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 / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2015-4805 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data