Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2012-4681

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 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.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a CRITICAL severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 6 products from oracle, from oracle, from redhat and 3 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Documented in 2012, this vulnerability occurred amid the cloud computing expansion era, where traditional network perimeter security models were being reevaluated. Organizations were transitioning from isolated infrastructure to interconnected systems, creating new attack surfaces that vulnerabilities like this could exploit.

Published

2012-08-28T00:55:01.860

Last Modified

2025-10-22T01:15:45.113

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

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

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
NVD-CWE-noinfo
Type: Secondary
CWE-284

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jdk	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.6.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Application	oracle	jre	1.7.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_desktop	6.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_eus	6.3	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_server	6.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux_workstation	6.0	Yes

References

http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2012/08/zero-day-season-is-not-over-yet.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://immunityproducts.blogspot.com/2012/08/java-0day-analysis-cve-2012-4681.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://labs.alienvault.com/labs/index.php/2012/new-java-0day-exploited-in-the-wild/ Broken Link, Exploit ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00032.html Mailing List ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-10/msg00016.html Mailing List ([email protected])
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=135109152819176&w=2 Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1225.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://secunia.com/advisories/51044 Not Applicable ([email protected])
http://www.deependresearch.org/2012/08/java-7-vulnerability-analysis.html Broken Link, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alert-cve-2012-4681-1835715.html Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/55213 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-240A.html Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource ([email protected])
https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2012/08/27/lets-start-the-week-with-a-new-java-0day Broken Link, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2012/08/zero-day-season-is-not-over-yet.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://immunityproducts.blogspot.com/2012/08/java-0day-analysis-cve-2012-4681.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://labs.alienvault.com/labs/index.php/2012/new-java-0day-exploited-in-the-wild/ Broken Link, Exploit (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-09/msg00032.html Mailing List (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2012-10/msg00016.html Mailing List (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=135109152819176&w=2 Issue Tracking, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1225.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://secunia.com/advisories/51044 Not Applicable (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.deependresearch.org/2012/08/java-7-vulnerability-analysis.html Broken Link, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alert-cve-2012-4681-1835715.html Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/55213 Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-240A.html Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2012/08/27/lets-start-the-week-with-a-new-java-0day Broken Link, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2012-4681 (134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

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 oracle'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.