JVM hang or crash via shutdown race
Published Nov 15, 2023 · Updated Nov 3, 2025
Denial of service in Eclipse OpenJ9 before 0.41.0 allows local users to hang or crash the JVM by signaling it during initialization. The shutdown signal handler can enter protectedDestroyJavaVM or exitJavaVM while J9_CreateJavaVM is still running, racing initialization and exit on shared state. Exploitation requires privileged local access, a SIGTERM, SIGINT, or SIGHUP during the narrow startup window, and results only in a busy hang or segmentation-fault service interruption.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Eclipse OpenJ9 before 0.41.0 allows local users to hang or crash the JVM by signaling it during initialization. The shutdown signal handler can enter protectedDestroyJavaVM or exitJavaVM while J9_CreateJavaVM is still running, racing initialization and exit on shared state. Exploitation requires privileged local access, a SIGTERM, SIGINT, or SIGHUP during the narrow startup window, and results only in a busy hang or segmentation-fault service interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-5676
- Published
- Nov 15, 2023
- Updated
- Nov 3, 2025
- Vendor
- The Eclipse Foundation
- Product
- Eclipse OpenJ9
- Classifications
- CWE-362, CWE-364, T1489
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Nov 15, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Nov 3, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <0.41.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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