Security Resilience

CVE-2012-4681

Oracle Jdk 1.6.0 … 1.7.0

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRansomware-linked
Published
28 August 2012
Modified
06 August 2026
KEV Added
03 March 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.99 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2012-4681 is a critical-severity Improper Access Control (CWE-284) vulnerability in Oracle Jdk. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability consists of multiple flaws in the Java Runtime Environment component of Oracle Java SE 7 Update 6 and earlier releases. These issues permit a crafted applet to bypass SecurityManager checks by invoking com.sun.beans.finder.ClassFinder.findClass, triggering an exception in the forName method to reach restricted classes such as sun.awt.SunToolkit, and then employing reflection with a trusted immediate caller to call getField and alter private fields.

Remote attackers can deliver the applet over the network to any system running an affected JRE. Successful exploitation grants the ability to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the user running the Java process, without requiring authentication or user interaction beyond visiting a malicious page.

Public analyses published shortly after disclosure, including detailed write-ups from FireEye, Immunity, and AlienVault, confirm active exploitation in August 2012 through class files named Gondzz.class and Gondvv.class. Corresponding security advisories from distributions such as openSUSE document the availability of updated Java packages to address the issue.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) component in Oracle Java SE 7 Update 6 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted applet that bypasses SecurityManager restrictions by (1) using com.sun.beans.finder.ClassFinder.findClass and leveraging an…

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exception with the forName method to access restricted classes from arbitrary packages such as sun.awt.SunToolkit, then (2) using "reflection with a trusted immediate caller" to leverage the getField method to access and modify private fields, as exploited in the wild in August 2012 using Gondzz.class and Gondvv.class.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
03 March 2022

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2012-1723Same product: Oracle Jdkboth on KEV
CVE-2015-4902Same product: Oracle Jdkboth on KEV
CVE-2011-3544Same product: Oracle Jdkboth on KEV
CVE-2013-0422Same product: Oracle Jdkboth on KEV
CVE-2012-5076Same product: Oracle Jreboth on KEV
CVE-2026-21962Same vendor: Oracleboth on KEV
CVE-2016-3427Same product: Oracle Jdkboth on KEV
CVE-2013-2423Same product: Oracle Jreboth on KEV
CVE-2026-47035Same product: Oracle Jdk
CVE-2026-47030Same product: Oracle Jdk

Affected Assets

oracle
jdk
1.6.0, 1.7.0
oracle
jre
1.6.0, 1.7.0
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
6.0
redhat
enterprise linux eus
6.3
redhat
enterprise linux server
6.0
redhat
enterprise linux workstation
6.0

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-284

The access control policy and procedures directly mandate and enforce proper access control mechanisms across the organization.

addresses: CWE-284

Device lock enforces restricted access until re-authentication, directly reducing unauthorized use of active sessions.

addresses: CWE-284

Supervision and review of access control activities directly detects and remediates improper access configurations or usages.

addresses: CWE-284

Explicitly identifying and documenting actions permitted without identification or authentication enforces proper access control boundaries by defining justified exceptions.

addresses: CWE-284

By automatically labeling outputs with security attributes, the control supports attribute-based enforcement and reduces exploitability of improper access control weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-284

Associating and retaining security attributes with data directly supports enforcement of access control decisions across storage, processing, and transmission.

addresses: CWE-284

Requiring prior authorization for each remote access type prevents improper access control over remote connections.

addresses: CWE-284

Requiring authorization of wireless access before allowing connections enforces proper access control for this access method.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

blocks

A.5.1 only requires that an information security policy and topic-specific policies (including on access control) exist and are reviewed; it does not itself enforce, implement or act on any access restriction, so the weakness can still be exploited (per the owner's explicit rule that governance/dependency clauses score none on effect verbs).

blocks

A.5.15 directly mandates determining requirements, defining/implementing topic-specific access control policy+rules (with explicit references to 8.3, 5.16, 5.18), and enforcing authorized access while preventing unauthorized access, which squarely stops exploitation of most CWE-284 instances; the bounded remainder is the physical slice (explicitly delegated to 7.2-7.4) plus any second-order defects like path traversal that are not authorization decisions.

blocks

A.5.16's identity lifecycle (unique binding, timely disable/remove, no duplicates, oversight of shared/non-human) directly stops most improper access by ensuring the actor in an access decision is correctly identified and authorized; the bounded remainder is non-identity mechanisms in CWE-284 such as path traversal or CSRF that do not turn on actor identity at all.

blocks

A.5.18 directly governs the provisioning, review, adjustment and timely revocation of both physical and logical access rights per business rules, segregation of duties and risk-evaluated changes/terminations; this stops most unauthorized-actor exploitation paths named by CWE-284, with a bounded remainder (e.g. path-traversal or CSRF cases that are not authorization decisions at all)

blocks

A.5.2 defines and assigns roles/responsibilities for protection of information and risk acceptance; it does not itself enforce any access decision and cannot stop exploitation of improper access control (per the owner's labeling rule: governance/dependency clauses do not score on prevent/mitigate verbs)

finds

Ongoing audits and performance reviews of suppliers detect and correct situations where access controls or privilege assignments are weaker than contractually required, limiting an attacker's ability to exploit improper access control in the supplier's environment.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-284, a pillar-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-749, CWE-1220.

References