Vulnerability Monitor

The vendors, products, and vulnerabilities you care about

CVE-2004-2540

readObject in (1) Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and (2) Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.4.0 through 1.4.2_05 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (JVM unresponsive) via crafted serialized data.

Security Impact Summary

CVE-2004-2540 is a security vulnerability that . Impacting 2 products from sun, from sun organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Originally identified in 2004, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.

Published

2004-12-31T05:00:00.000

Last Modified

2025-04-03T01:03:51.193

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv2: 5.0 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
NVD-CWE-Other

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	sun	jdk	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_01	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.0_4	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.1_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_01	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_02	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_03	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_04	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_04	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_04	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_05	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_05	Yes
Application	sun	jdk	1.4.2_05	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_01	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_01	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_03	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_04	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_04	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.0_04	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_01	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_02	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.1_07	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes
Application	sun	jre	1.4.2	Yes

References

http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2005-04/0113.html ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/13271/ Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://sunsolve.sun.com/searchproxy/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57707-1 ([email protected])
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/20027 ([email protected])
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2005-04/0113.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/13271/ Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://sunsolve.sun.com/searchproxy/document.do?assetkey=1-26-57707-1 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/20027 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For sun's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.