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CVE-2018-12549: Eclipse Openj9: Direct Use of Unsafe JNI

CVE-2018-12549 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.0 base score of 9.8 and affects Eclipse Openj9, along with 4 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.

Vulnerability description

In Eclipse OpenJ9 version 0.11.0, the OpenJ9 JIT compiler may incorrectly omit a null check on the receiver object of an Unsafe call when accelerating it.

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.0 9.8: CVSS:3.0/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-111: Direct Use of Unsafe JNI

When a Java application uses the Java Native Interface (JNI) to call code written in another programming language, it can expose the application to weaknesses in that code, even if those weaknesses cannot occur in Java.

CWE-20: Improper Input Validation

The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.

Affected products

  • Eclipse Openj9: 0.11.0
  • Red Hat Satellite: 5.8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop: 6.0; 7.0
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server: 6.0; 7.0
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation: 6.0; 7.0

References