How severe is CVE-2012-4681?

CVE-2012-4681 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2012-4681?

Affected package information for CVE-2012-4681 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2012-4681?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2012-4681 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2012-4681 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 7 known exploit references for CVE-2012-4681, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 5 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2012-4681?

CVE-2012-4681 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 94.1%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2012-4681 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2012-4681 (Oracle Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE) Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-03-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-03-24. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. This CVE has been used in known ransomware campaigns. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2012-4681?

CVE-2012-4681 is classified as CWE-284 (CWE-284). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2012-4681?

CVE-2012-4681 affects oracle jdk (2 versions, e.g. 1.6.0, 1.7.0); oracle jre (2 versions, e.g. 1.6.0, 1.7.0); redhat enterprise linux desktop (1 version, e.g. 6.0); redhat enterprise linux eus (1 version, e.g. 6.3), and 2 more product(s). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2012-4681 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2012-4681 was published on August 28, 2012 and was last updated on April 21, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CVE-2012-4681: JDK CWE-284 (Critical 9.8)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

94.1%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

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.

Affected Products

6 products · 85 configurations

Application

jdkoracle

2 versions

1.6.01.7.0

Application

jreoracle

2 versions

1.6.01.7.0

OS

enterprise linux desktopredhat

1 version

6.0

OS

enterprise linux eusredhat

1 version

6.3

OS

enterprise linux serverredhat

1 version

6.0

OS

enterprise linux workstationredhat

1 version

6.0

Frequently Asked Questions

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.cl

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2012-4681 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2012-4681 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my stack How O3 SCA works