Sun Java 1.6.0_03 and earlier versions, and possibly later versions, does not properly verify the authenticity of updates, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Trojan horse update, as demonstrated by evilgrade and DNS cache poisoning
Published Aug 1, 2008
7.5
HIGHCVSS 2.0
EPSS 2.41%
Description
Sun Java 1.6.0_03 and earlier versions, and possibly later versions, does not properly verify the authenticity of updates, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Trojan horse update, as demonstrated by evilgrade and DNS cache poisoning.
Affected products
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Not vulnerable. This issue did not affect the versions of Sun Java packages as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Extras, or 5 Supplementary. The updated Red Hat Enterprise Linux packages are not distributed via the java.sun.com update service (which is only used for Windows version of Sun Java), but rather via Red Hat Network, using the package manager capabilities to verify authenticity of updates.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 2.41% (0.02409) | 83.51th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 2.41% (0.02409) | 81.89th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.70% (0.00699) | 70.28th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.23% (0.00230) | 62.08th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Jun 20, 2024 | 0.23% (0.00230) | 61.37th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.23% (0.00230) | 59.35th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.92% (0.02920) | 83.31th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2.92% (0.02920) | 81.60th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.92% (0.02920) | 64.09th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (7)
- http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2008-07/0250.html mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC
- http://securitytracker.com/id?1020584 vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACK
- http://www.infobyte.com.ar/down/Francisco%20Amato%20-%20evilgrade%20-%20ENG.pdf x_refsource_MISC
- http://www.infobyte.com.ar/down/isr-evilgrade-1.0.0.tar.gz x_refsource_MISC
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-3440 Vendor Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3440
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3440
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2008-07/0250.html | mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC | |
| http://securitytracker.com/id?1020584 | vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACK | |
| http://www.infobyte.com.ar/down/Francisco%20Amato%20-%20evilgrade%20-%20ENG.pdf | x_refsource_MISC | |
| http://www.infobyte.com.ar/down/isr-evilgrade-1.0.0.tar.gz | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2008-3440 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3440 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3440 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.