Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2016-0466

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2016-01-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 the Java SE, Java SE Embedded, and JRockit components in Oracle Java SE 6u105, 7u91, and 8u66; Java SE Embedded 8u65; and JRockit R28.3.8 allows remote attackers to affect availability via vectors related to JAXP.

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

A vulnerability in JAXP (Java API for XML Processing) in Oracle Java SE versions 6u105, 7u91, 8u66, Java SE Embedded 8u65, and JRockit R28.3.8 allows remote attackers to impact availability (denial of service) through unspecified vectors related to XML processing.

MitigationUpdate to a patched Java version beyond the affected releases (later than 6u105, 7u91, 8u66 for Java SE; later than 8u65 for Embedded; later than R28.3.8 for JRockit).

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 15.04= 15.10
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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

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. Identify installed Java version
    Run `java -version` and note the version string (e.g., 1.8.0_66). Also check for JRE vs JDK with `which java` and examine the installation path.
    Affected if The version reported is 1.6.0 through 1.6.0_105, 1.7.0 through 1.7.0_91, or 1.8.0 through 1.8.0_66 (exact versions as listed in the affected ranges).
  2. Check Ubuntu release version
    Run `lsb_release -a` or check `/etc/lsb-release` to confirm the Ubuntu version.
    Affected if The system runs Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 15.04, or 15.10 with the vulnerable Java versions installed.
  3. Verify JAXP component presence
    JAXP is included in the JRE/JDK runtime. Check that Java is installed by running `java -cp <jar_path> -verbose` or listing the Java lib directory (e.g., $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/) for xml-related jars like serializer.jar or xalan.jar.
    Affected if Java is installed and contains the standard JAXP libraries, which are present by default in affected versions.
  4. Confirm XML processing is in use
    Review running Java applications or services that process XML input (search processes with `ps aux | grep java` and check for XML-related operations in application logs or configurations).
    Affected if Any Java application or service on the system processes XML data, as the vulnerability is triggered through XML processing vectors.

The environment is affected if the installed Oracle Java (JDK or JRE) version falls within 1.6.0 through 1.6.0_105, 1.7.0 through 1.7.0_91, or 1.8.0 through 1.8.0_66 (or equivalent embedded/JRockit versions), particularly on Ubuntu 12.04-15.10, and the system processes XML data via Java applications.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to a patched Java version beyond the affected releases (later than 6u105, 7u91, 8u66 for Java SE; later than 8u65 for Embedded; later than R28.3.8 for JRockit).

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0466 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-0466 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