# CVE-2019-17639: Memory corruption in Eclipse OpenJ9

> A memory corruption flaw in Eclipse OpenJ9 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges via crafted array copy operations.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2020
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rm33-h23j-qcgg

## What is CVE-2019-17639?

CVE-2019-17639 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse OpenJ9, published on 15 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Eclipse OpenJ9 prior to version 0.21 on Power platforms, calling the System.arraycopy method with a length longer than the length of the source or destination array can, in certain specially crafted code patterns, cause the current method to return prematurely with an undefined return value. This allows whatever value happens to be in the return register at that time to be used as if it matches the method's declared return type.

Weakness: CWE-843 (Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-17639?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Eclipse Openj9.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-17639?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2019-17639 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-17639 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse OpenJ9

- [CVE-2021-41035](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41035/): Security feature bypass in Eclipse OMR (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-27221](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27221/): Memory corruption in Eclipse OpenJ9 (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-11772](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11772/): Memory corruption in Eclipse OpenJ9 (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-12547](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12547/): Memory corruption in Eclipse OpenJ9 (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-12549](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12549/): Null dereference in Eclipse OpenJ9 (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-17639 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-17639 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse OpenJ9, published on 15 Jul 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-17639 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse OpenJ9. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17639/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17639/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-17639
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-17639
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-17639

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17639/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.