# CVE-2023-21986: Other in GraalVM Enterprise Edition

> An unauthenticated attacker with local access can modify data and cause partial denial of service in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cqcj-32w9-hr73

## What is CVE-2023-21986?

CVE-2023-21986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Oracle Graalvm, published on 18 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Vulnerability in the Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition product of Oracle Java SE (component: Native Image).  Supported versions that are affected are Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition: 20.3.9, 21.3.5 and  22.3.1. Easily exploitable vulnerability allows unauthenticated attacker with logon to the infrastructure where Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition executes to compromise Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition.  While the vulnerability is in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition, attacks may significantly impact additional products (scope change).  Successful attacks of this vulnerability can result in  unauthorized update, insert or delete access to some of Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition accessible data and unauthorized ability to cause a partial denial of service (partial DOS) of Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition. CVSS 3.1 Base Score 5.7 (Integrity and Availability impacts).  CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L).

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-21986?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Oracle Graalvm.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-21986?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-21986 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-21986 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-21986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Oracle Graalvm

- [CVE-2025-50059](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-50059/): Security feature bypass in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-32803](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32803/): Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2021-32804](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32804/): Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite due to insufficient absolute path sanitization (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2025-30749](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-30749/): Code injection in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2025-50106](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-50106/): Code injection in Oracle GraalVM Enterprise Edition (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-21986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-21986 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Oracle Graalvm, published on 18 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-21986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Oracle Graalvm. 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-2023-21986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-21986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-21986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-21986

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-21986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.