CVE-2012-4681

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score elevated to 9.8 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.8
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS: 99%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: NoneExposed: 0

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EPSS
99.9%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

August 28, 2012

Last Modified

April 21, 2026

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Apr 29, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

DeepEnd Research: CVE-2012-4681 Java 7 0-Day vulnerability analysis

http://www.deependresearch.org/2012/08/java-7-vulnerability-analysis.html
generic

About Secunia Research | Flexera

http://secunia.com/advisories/51044
generic
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2012-1225.html
generic

'[security bulletin] HPSBUX02824 SSRT100970 rev.1 - HP-UX Running Java, Remote Execution of Arbitrary' - MARC

http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=135109152819176&w=2
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

Immunity Products: Java 0day analysis (CVE-2012-4681)

http://immunityproducts.blogspot.com/2012/08/java-0day-analysis-cve-2012-4681.html

Patch Availability(3)

Vendor / EcosystemFixed in / PatchReleasedSource
redhatjava-1.7.0-ibm-1:1.7.0.2.0-1jpp.3.el6_32012-09-18redhat
redhatjava-1.7.0-oracle-1:1.7.0.7-1jpp.5.el6_32012-09-04redhat
redhatjava-1.7.0-openjdk-1:1.7.0.5-2.2.1.el6_3.32012-09-03redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(3)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 122× in last 7d / 533× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 695 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-07-07 06:04 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-07-07 06:04 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-07-07 06:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-07-07 01:53 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-07-07 01:53 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-07-07 01:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-07-06 21:43 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-07-06 21:43 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-07-06 21:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-07-06 17:32 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-07-06 17:32 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-07-06 17:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-07-06 13:21 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-07-06 13:21 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-07-06 13:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-07-06 09:09 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-07-06 09:09 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-07-06 09:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-06 05:00 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-07-06 05:00 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-07-06 04:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-06 00:50 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-07-06 00:50 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-07-06 00:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-07-05 20:39 UTCEG score recompute
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-05 20:39 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-07-05 20:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-07-05 16:29 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-07-05 16:29 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-07-05 16:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-07-05 12:15 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-07-05 12:15 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-07-05 12:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-05 08:05 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-07-05 08:05 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-07-05 08:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-05 03:55 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-07-05 03:55 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-07-05 03:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-07-04 23:43 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-07-04 23:43 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-07-04 23:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-07-04 19:33 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-07-04 19:33 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-07-04 19:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-04 15:22 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-07-04 15:22 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-07-04 15:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-07-04 11:12 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-07-04 11:12 UTCVendor advisory
  26. 2026-07-04 11:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-07-04 07:00 UTCEG score recompute
  28. 2026-07-04 07:00 UTCVendor advisory
  29. 2026-07-04 07:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-07-04 02:49 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-07-04 02:49 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-07-04 02:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-07-03 22:39 UTCEG score recompute
  34. 2026-07-03 22:39 UTCVendor advisory
  35. 2026-07-03 22:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-07-03 18:28 UTCEG score recompute
  37. 2026-07-03 18:28 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-07-03 18:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-07-03 14:18 UTCEG score recompute
  40. 2026-07-03 14:18 UTCVendor advisory
  41. 2026-07-03 14:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-07-03 10:08 UTCEG score recompute
  43. 2026-07-03 10:08 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-07-03 10:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-07-03 05:57 UTCEG score recompute
  46. 2026-07-03 05:57 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-07-03 05:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-07-03 01:47 UTCEG score recompute
  49. 2026-07-03 01:47 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-07-03 01:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-07-02 21:36 UTCEG score recompute
  52. 2026-07-02 21:36 UTCVendor advisory
  53. 2026-07-02 21:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-07-02 17:27 UTCEG score recompute
  55. 2026-07-02 17:27 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-07-02 17:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-07-02 17:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-07-02 13:16 UTCEG score recompute
  59. 2026-07-02 13:16 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-07-02 13:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-07-02 09:07 UTCEG score recompute
  62. 2026-07-02 09:07 UTCVendor advisory
  63. 2026-07-02 09:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-07-02 04:55 UTCEG score recompute
  65. 2026-07-02 04:55 UTCVendor advisory
  66. 2026-07-02 04:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-07-02 00:45 UTCEG score recompute
  68. 2026-07-02 00:45 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-07-02 00:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-07-01 20:34 UTCEG score recompute
  71. 2026-07-01 20:34 UTCVendor advisory
  72. 2026-07-01 20:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-07-01 19:16 UTCCISA KEV update
  74. 2026-07-01 16:24 UTCEG score recompute
  75. 2026-07-01 16:24 UTCVendor advisory

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-20865✓ verified
    First seen Aug 27, 2012

    Java 7 Applet - Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/multi/browser/java_jre17_exec✓ verified
    First seen Aug 26, 2012

    Java 7 Applet Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2012-4681?
CVE-2012-4681 is a critical vulnerability published on August 28, 2012. 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…
When was CVE-2012-4681 disclosed?
CVE-2012-4681 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 28, 2012, with the most recent update on April 21, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2012-4681 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2012-4681 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on March 3, 2022, affecting Oracle Java SE. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2012-4681?
CVE-2012-4681 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2012-4681?
CVE-2012-4681 affects Oracle Java SE. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2012-4681?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2012-4681, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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