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CVE-2012-0507: Oracle Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2012-0507 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 and affects Oracle Java SE, along with 5 other products in NVD’s configuration data. Per its scoring, it can be exploited over the network, without authentication, without any user interaction. The scored impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability is the highest available. CISA added it to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-03, which means exploitation in the wild has been observed.

Vulnerability description

Unspecified vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) component in Oracle Java SE 7 Update 2 and earlier, 6 Update 30 and earlier, and 5.0 Update 33 and earlier allows remote attackers to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability via unknown vectors related to Concurrency. NOTE: the previous information was obtained from the February 2012 Oracle CPU. Oracle has not commented on claims from a downstream vendor and third party researchers that this issue occurs because the AtomicReferenceArray class implementation does not ensure that the array is of the Object[] type, which allows attackers to cause a denial of service (JVM crash) or bypass Java sandbox restrictions. NOTE: this issue was originally mapped to CVE-2011-3571, but that identifier was already assigned to a different issue.

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.1 9.8: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack vector: Network. Exploitable remotely over the network, with no need for local or physical access.
Attack complexity: Low. No special conditions; the attack can be repeated reliably.
Privileges required: None. No account or prior access is needed.
User interaction: None. No action from any user is needed.
Scope: Unchanged. Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact: High. Total loss of confidentiality; sensitive data can be fully disclosed.
Integrity impact: High. Total loss of integrity; data or system state can be fully modified.
Availability impact: High. Total loss of availability; the component can be shut down.

Underlying weakness

CWE-843: Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type

The product allocates or initializes a resource such as a pointer, object, or variable using one type, but it later accesses that resource using a type that is incompatible with the original type.

Affected products

Sun JRE: 1.5.0; 1.5.0 update1; 1.5.0 update10; 1.5.0 update11; 1.5.0 update12; 1.5.0 update13; 1.5.0 update14; 1.5.0 update15; 1.5.0 update16; 1.5.0 update17; 1.5.0 update18; 1.5.0 update19
Oracle JRE: 1.6.0 update22; 1.6.0 update23; 1.6.0 update24; 1.6.0 update25; 1.6.0 update26; 1.6.0 update27; 1.6.0 update29; 1.6.0 update30; 1.7.0; 1.7.0 update1; 1.7.0 update2
Debian Linux: 6.0; 7.0
Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop: 10 sp4
Suse Linux Enterprise Java: 10 sp4; 11 sp1
Suse Linux Enterprise Server: 10 sp4; 11 sp1; 11 sp2
Suse Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit: 11 sp1; 11 sp2