CVE-2021-2388 Code injection in Java SE JDK and JRE

What is CVE-2021-2388?

CVE-2021-2388 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 20 Jul 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Vulnerability in the Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: Hotspot). Supported versions that are affected are Java SE: 8u291, 11.0.11, 16.0.1; Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 20.3.2 and 21.1.0. Difficult to exploit vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with network access via multiple protocols to compromise Java SE, Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. Successful attacks require human interaction from a person other than the attacker. Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in takeover 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 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 (Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability impacts). CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-2388?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including java, java-min and jre. It affects 5 products.

Products include Debian Debian Linux, Oracle Graalvm, Oracle Jdk, Oracle Jre, Oracle Openjdk.

How do I fix CVE-2021-2388?

Upgrade java to a fixed version for your release line: 1.8.0, 8.0.301, 11.0.12 or 16.0.2.

Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.

Is CVE-2021-2388 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-2388 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

• CVE-2015-3306 ProFTPD Improper Access Control Exploited Critical 10.0
• CVE-2025-49113 RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data Exploited Critical 9.9
• CVE-2026-24061 GNU InetUtils Argument Injection Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2025-39682 Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2024-9680 Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free Exploited Critical 9.8

All Debian Debian Linux vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as BIT-java-2021-2388, BIT-java-min-2021-2388, BIT-jre-2021-2388, CLEANSTART-2026-LD59158, CLEANSTART-2026-PA60709, CLSA-2021-1632262184 and 14 more.