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JdkApplication · Oracle

CVE-2016-0686

CRITICAL · 9.6 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-04-21
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

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 6u113, 7u99, and 8u77 and Java SE Embedded 8u77 allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via 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 serialization vulnerability in Oracle Java SE versions 6u113, 7u99, 8u77 and Java SE Embedded 8u77 allows remote attackers to achieve complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability through malicious serialized object injection.

MitigationUpdate Java to versions beyond the affected releases (6u115+, 7u101+, 8u91+) or apply the April 2016 CPU; alternatively, implement Java deserialization filters or disable serialization if not required.

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 JDK or JRE version
    Run 'java -version' or 'javac -version' from command line and note the full version string (for example: 1.8.0_77)
    Affected if The reported version matches 1.6.0_113, 1.7.0_99, 1.8.0_77, or 8u77 for Embedded, or falls within the range between these versions and their respective fixed releases (6u115+, 7u101+, 8u91+)
  2. Check if Java deserialization is in use
    Review application source code or deployment configuration for usage of ObjectInputStream, XMLDecoder, or similar deserialization APIs, or inspect network traffic for serialized Java objects
    Affected if The application accepts deserialized Java objects from untrusted sources without filtering
  3. Identify deserialization entry points
    Search for classes that implement java.io.Serializable and are exposed via RMI, JMX, remote EJB, or HTTP endpoints that accept serialized objects
    Affected if Exposed network interfaces accept Java serialized objects from remote clients
  4. Review serialization filter configuration
    Check for the presence of jdk.serialFilter system property or custom ObjectInputFilter implementations in the JVM startup scripts
    Affected if No serialization filter is configured and the JVM runs on a vulnerable version

A user is affected if they run any of the specific vulnerable Java versions (6u113, 7u99, 8u77 or Embedded 8u77) and have applications or services that accept Java serialized objects from network sources without deserialization filters.

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

Update Java to versions beyond the affected releases (6u115+, 7u101+, 8u91+) or apply the April 2016 CPU; alternatively, implement Java deserialization filters or disable serialization if not required.

Recommended fix High confidence

Java 8 (8u77 or later, preferably latest 8u401+), or migrate to Java 11/17/21 LTS for longer support

  1. 1. Identify all Java installations on the system using 'java -version' and check JAVA_HOME environment variable
  2. 2. For Java 6: Upgrade to Java 6 Update 113 or later (Java 6 is End-of-Life; consider migrating to Java 8 or 11)
  3. 3. For Java 7: Upgrade to Java 7 Update 99 or later (Java 7 is End-of-Life; consider migrating to Java 8 or 11)
  4. 4. For Java 8: Upgrade to Java 8 Update 77 or later, preferably to the latest Java 8 update (8u401 or later)
  5. 5. Download the updated JDK/JRE from https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/ or your distribution's package manager
  6. 6. Install the new Java version and update JAVA_HOME to point to the new installation
  7. 7. Verify the fix by running 'java -version' to confirm the updated version is active
  8. 8. Restart any applications or services that use Java to ensure they load the patched version
Caveat Java 6 and 7 are End-of-Life and receive no further security updates; upgrading from Java 6/7 to Java 8+ may require code changes due to removed APIs and behavioral differences; Java 8 is also approaching End-of-Life (March 2026 for commercial support)

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
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2016-0686 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