CVE-2022-21340
Published: 19 January 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-21340 is a medium-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Oracle Openjdk. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2022-21340 is a vulnerability in the Libraries component of Oracle Java SE and Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. It affects Oracle Java SE versions 7u321, 8u311, 11.0.13, and 17.0.1 as well as GraalVM Enterprise Edition versions 20.3.4 and 21.3.0. The flaw is rated CVSS 5.3 with an Availability impact only and is associated with CWE-400.
An unauthenticated attacker with network access over multiple protocols can exploit the issue to cause a partial denial of service. The vulnerability is reachable both through sandboxed Java Web Start applications or applets that load untrusted code from the internet and through direct use of the affected APIs, such as via a web service supplying data to those interfaces.
Public advisories from Debian, Gentoo, and NetApp address the issue through updated Java packages that remediate the Libraries component flaw.
EPSS scores have remained low, with a current value of 0.0561 and a peak of 0.0646, indicating limited observed exploitation interest after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-26565
Vulnerability details
Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: Libraries). Supported versions that are affected are Oracle Java SE: 7u321, 8u311, 11.0.13, 17.0.1; Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 20.3.4 and 21.3.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability…
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allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Note: This vulnerability applies to Java deployments, typically in clients running sandboxed Java Web Start applications or sandboxed Java applets, that load and run untrusted code (e.g., code that comes from the internet) and rely on the Java sandbox for security. This vulnerability can also be exploited by using APIs in the specified Component, e.g., through a web service which supplies data to the APIs. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.3 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L).
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
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.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.
Timely maintenance support and spare parts enable rapid recovery from failures induced by uncontrolled resource consumption, shortening the impact window of denial-of-service attacks.