VulnerabilityPublished 17 Oct 2023Updated 3 Nov 2025

CVE-2023-22081: Oracle Java SE JDK and JRE · Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTPS to

Affects Oracle Java SE JDK and JRESource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 11:42 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 75% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 17 Oct 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

European organizations should implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Identify and inventory all Java SE and GraalVM client deployments, focusing on versions listed as affected (e.g., Oracle Java SE 8u381, 11.0.20, 17.0.8, 21, and corresponding GraalVM versions). 2) Apply Oracle's official patches or updates as soon as they become available to address CVE-2023-22081. 3) Where patching is not immediately feasible, restrict or disable the use of Java Web Start and applets that load untrusted code, especially from external or untrusted HTTPS sources. 4) Implement network-level controls such as HTTPS filtering, proxying, or allowlisting to prevent Java clients from connecting to untrusted or malicious servers. 5) Educate users and administrators about the risks of running untrusted Java code and encourage migration away from deprecated Java Web Start and applet technologies toward modern, secure application delivery methods. 6) Monitor client-side Java application logs and network traffic for unusual connection attempts or failures indicative of exploitation attempts. 7) Review and harden Java sandbox policies to minimize exposure to untrusted code execution. These targeted actions go beyond generic advice by focusing on client-side Java usage patterns and network controls relevant to this vulnerability.

Description

Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM for JDK, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: JSSE). Supported versions that are affected are Oracle Java SE: 8u381, 8u381-perf, 11.0.20, 17.0.8, 21; Oracle GraalVM for JDK: 17.0.8, 21; Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 20.3.11, 21.3.7 and 22.3.3. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via HTTPS to compromise Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM for JDK, 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 for JDK, 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 does not apply to Java deployments, typically in servers, that load and run only trusted code (e.g., code installed by an administrator). 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).

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-22081 is the potential for partial denial of service in client environments running sandboxed Java Web Start applications or applets that load untrusted code. This could disrupt business processes relying on such Java clients, causing downtime or degraded service availability. Since the vulnerability does not affect server-side Java deployments running trusted code, critical backend systems are less likely to be impacted. However, sectors that still utilize legacy Java client applications—such as certain financial services, manufacturing, or government agencies—may face operational interruptions. The partial DoS could also be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain to degrade user experience or availability of client-side tools. Given the unauthenticated network access vector, attackers could exploit this vulnerability remotely if the affected Java clients connect to malicious or compromised HTTPS servers. The lack of confidentiality or integrity impact limits data breach risks, but availability issues could affect compliance with service-level agreements and operational continuity. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the ease of exploitation warrants timely remediation.

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Nov 2025, 00:09 UTC

Technical details

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