What is CVE-2004-2540?

CVE-2004-2540 is a vulnerability in Sun Jdk. Published 2004-12-31.

Is CVE-2004-2540 known to be exploited?

1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Sun Jdk

CVE-2004-2540

readObject in (1) Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and (2) Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.4.0 through 1.4.2_05 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (JVM unresponsive) via crafted serialized data.

Published 2004-12-31 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 5.0 (Medium). Vector: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.025 (84.0th percentile), scored 2026-09-30.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 84th percentile — 84.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.025 · newest: 0.025 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Sun Jdk — versions 1.4, 1.4.0_01, 1.4.0_02
Sun Jre — versions 1.4, 1.4.0_01, 1.4.0_02

Public proof-of-concept exploits

PalindromeLabs/Java-Deserialization-CVEs

References

archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2005-04/0113.html (mailing-list)
secunia.com/advisories/13271/ (Vendor Advisory, third-party-advisory)
sunsolve.sun.com/searchproxy/document.do (vendor-advisory)
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/20027 (vdb-entry)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2004-2540?: CVE-2004-2540 is a vulnerability in Sun Jdk. Published 2004-12-31.
Is CVE-2004-2540 known to be exploited?: 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.