CVE-2026-21945
openjdk: Enhance Certificate Checking (Oracle CPU 2026-01)
Severity
ImportantRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · January 21, 2026
Updated · October 30, 2026
Description
Vulnerability in the Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM for JDK, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: Security). Supported versions that are affected are Oracle Java SE: 8u471, 8u471-b50, 8u471-perf, 11.0.29, 17.0.17, 21.0.9, 25.0.1; Oracle GraalVM for JDK: 17.0.17 and 21.0.9; Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 21.3.16. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols 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 hang or frequently repeatable crash (complete 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 7.5 (Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as an Important impact because an unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a denial of service through an application hang or crash when Authority Information Access (AIA) is enabled. In standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenJDK environments, automatic retrieval of intermediate certificates via AIA is disabled by default, significantly limiting exposure on typical systems. Impact is restricted to environments that explicitly activate AIA caIssuers fetching to validate untrusted peer certificates.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 7.5CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-295 · Improper Certificate Validation