What is CVE-2021-35559?A medium-severity flaw in Graalvm, explained.

Medium severity14 affected products
The short answer

CVE-2021-35559 is a medium-severity flaw (CVSS 5.3) in Graalvm from Oracle, published on 20 October 2021. It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts its chance of use in the next 30 days at 16%. If you run an affected version, plan in the vendor’s fix.

Published 20 October 2021. Record last updated 3 July 2024. We keep this page's data up to date.

What it does

What is CVE-2021-35559? In plain terms.

It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can slow it down.

The official description

Vulnerability in the Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: Swing). Supported versions that are affected are Java SE: 7u311, 8u301, 11.0.12, 17; Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 20.3.3 and 21.2.0. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Java SE, 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 can also be exploited by using APIs in the specified Component, e.g., through a web service which supplies data to the APIs.

What kind of flaw is it?

  • CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
CVSS 3.1 scoreMedium · 5.3

How an attack on it works

Read straight from its severity rating, translated out of the shorthand.

  • Where an attacker can beAnywhere on the internet
  • How hard it is to pull offEasy: no special conditions
  • Login needed firstNo login needed
  • Does someone have to clickNo, nobody has to do anything
  • What an attacker getsCan slow it down

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

Exploitation

Is CVE-2021-35559 being exploited? Not that we know of.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 16%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

Known to be exploitedNoNot on the list of exploited flaws today
Chance of use in the next 30 days16%Its EPSS score, from the latest forecast

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Record last updated
  3. Exploit likelihood jumped
How Precursor Intelligence ranks it
29out of 100Low

CVE-2021-35559 scores 29. Action: Monitor.

We keep the score of every published flaw up to date as the evidence changes. Four things go into the score, and evidence that criminals are actually using it counts most. In order:

  • Evidence it is being exploitedBiggest factor
  • How severe it isStrong factor
  • How widely exposed it isSmaller factor
  • Threat activity around itSmaller factor

85 and above is Critical. Anything confirmed as exploited is always marked for an emergency patch, whatever its score.

When CVE-2021-35559 matches software you track, it lands in your list with its score and the reasons behind it.

See your own ranked list →
Affected products

Who is affected by CVE-2021-35559? 14 products.

The published record lists 14 products from 4 vendors. If you run one of these, check your version, then go to the fix below.

Remediation

How do I fix CVE-2021-35559? Four steps.

  1. Check whether you run itCompare your versions with the affected products above. Not sure what you run? Precursor Intelligence can work it out from your public website, or you can pick it from a list.
  2. Apply the vendor’s fixInstall the update named in the vendor’s advisory. We’ve put the advisory first in the list.
  3. If you can’t patch todayFollow any mitigation the vendor publishes, and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet until the update is in.
  4. Keep an eye on itTrack the product and we tell you as soon as we spot this flaw on the list of exploited flaws, or a jump in its exploit likelihood.
Precursor Intelligence

Does CVE-2021-35559 affect you? We'll keep checking.

Looking flaws up one at a time doesn't scale. Tell us what you run once, and we tell you which flaws matter to you, in what order, and keep watching for new ones.

  1. Tell us what you runPick your software from a list, or let us work it out from your website.
  2. We match it to every flawOver 400,000 published flaws, checked against your list.
  3. Ranked by real-world riskA 0 to 100 score, led by evidence criminals are using it.
  4. Told as soon as we knowAn alert by email, in the app or by webhook to your own tools.

Free plan, no card needed. Nothing to install.

FAQ

Common questions, answered plainly.

Something else? Talk to the team →

CVE-2021-35559 is a medium-severity flaw in Graalvm from Oracle, published on 20 October 2021. It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can slow it down.

It scores 5.3 out of 10 on the CVSS severity scale, which is medium. Our risk score for CVE-2021-35559 is 29 out of 100, which is Low. Its action is "Monitor". Not confirmed as exploited yet, but serious or likely enough that it should not wait for a quiet month.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 16%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

For Graalvm from Oracle: 20.3.3, 21.2.0. The record lists 14 products in all, each with its versions, under "Who is affected" on this page.

Install the update the vendor names in its advisory, linked first under "How do I fix" on this page. If you can't patch today, follow the vendor's mitigation and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet.