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JdkApplication · Oracle

CVE-2015-4881

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-10-21
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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 vectors related to CORBA, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-4835.

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

Critical vulnerability in Oracle Java SE related to CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) that allows remote attackers to fully compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The CVSS 10 score indicates potential for remote code execution via the IIOP protocol used by CORBA.

MitigationUrgently upgrade to patched Java versions beyond 6u101, 7u85, and 8u60, or apply the latest Oracle Critical Patch Update. Consider disabling CORBA/IIOP if not required in the environment.

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. Determine installed Java version
    Run 'java -version' or 'java -fullversion' from the command line to obtain the full version string including update patch level
    Affected if Version shows 1.6.0_u101 or lower, 1.7.0_u85 or lower, or 1.8.0_u60 or lower
  2. Identify Java home directory
    Run 'echo $JAVA_HOME' on Linux/Mac or 'echo %JAVA_HOME%' on Windows to locate the Java installation path, then inspect the 'release' file or 'lib/version.txt' for exact version details
    Affected if The version file inside JAVA_HOME shows an unpatched version number as described above
  3. Check for running Java processes using IIOP
    Run 'jps -l' to list Java processes, then inspect network connections using 'netstat -anp' or 'ss -tlnp' looking for port 2809 (default IIOP listener port) or custom IIOP ports
    Affected if Java processes are listening on IIOP ports (2809 or custom) and the Java version is unpatched
  4. Inspect Java RMI-IIOP system properties
    Run 'jinfo -sysprops <pid>' for running Java processes and check for 'java.rmi.server.hostname', 'com.sun.CORBA.*', or 'org.omg.*' system properties that indicate CORBA/IIOP usage
    Affected if CORBA-related system properties are present and Java version is unpatched
  5. Review application deployment descriptors
    Check application configuration files (application.xml, ejb-jar.xml, web.xml, or IBM-specific deployment descriptors) for 'ior' or 'iiop' protocol bindings, or look for 'corba' in any configuration files under the application directory
    Affected if Application is configured to use RMI-IIOP or CORBA transport and Java version is unpatched

You are affected if you have Java versions 1.6.0 up to 6u101, 1.7.0 up to 7u85, or 1.8.0 up to 8u60 AND your environment uses or exposes CORBA/IIOP 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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.oracle.com →
Interim mitigation

Urgently upgrade to patched Java versions beyond 6u101, 7u85, and 8u60, or apply the latest Oracle Critical Patch Update. Consider disabling CORBA/IIOP if not required in the environment.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

JDK 6u102+/7u91+/8u65+ (or latest available Oracle Java SE release)

  1. 1. Identify the currently installed Java version by running 'java -version'
  2. 2. For Java 6: upgrade to JDK 6u102 or later from Oracle's Java SE downloads page
  3. 3. For Java 7: upgrade to JDK 7u91 or later from Oracle's Java SE downloads page
  4. 4. For Java 8: upgrade to JDK 8u65 or later from Oracle's Java SE downloads page
  5. 5. Alternatively, download and apply the October 2015 Critical Patch Update from Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/cpuoct2015-2367953.html
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new Java version with 'java -version' and ensure it matches the patched release
  7. 7. Test any critical applications to confirm compatibility with the upgraded Java version
Caveat Minor: Ensure application compatibility with newer Java patch releases; some deprecated APIs may generate warnings

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

Fix this in Jdk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $4,960
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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-2015-4881 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