Java Exploit Patched? Not So Fast

PCM2 writes "The Register reports that Security Explorations' Adam Gowdiak says there is still an exploitable vulnerability in the Java SE 7 Update 7 that Oracle shipped as an emergency patch yesterday. 'As in the case of the earlier vulnerabilities, Gowdiak says, this flaw allows an attacker to bypass the Java security sandbox completely, making it possible to install malware or execute malicious code on affected systems.'"

Comments

Arrrrrg

[Haawkeye]

Come on really! That's it java is coming off my machines!

Re:Arrrrrg

[cbhacking]

Using what, a VM? That's probably the easiest and most cross-platform, but that hardly makes it easy (especially since VMs that are designed for easy use make extremely poor sandboxes). AppArmor or SELinux or some such? Well beyond the capabilities of most users. A dedicated low-privilege user account? That's possible on pretty much any platform, but will still leave a mess that you'll have to clean up afterward.

Besides, I'd really rather stop before the attacker gets arbitrary code execution on my machine. Java is disabled or simply not present on my machines, thank you.

Re:Arrrrrg

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Oracle should be "patched" by Anonymous.

Re:Arrrrrg

[Nerdfest]

I may have this wrong, but isn't this exploit only possible if you have Java enabled in your browser, which you only need to run Java applets? When was the last time you saw a Java applet? Disable it. I'm surprised it's still enabled by default (I think it's actually disabled in Chrome).

Re:Arrrrrg

[whoever57]

When was the last time you saw a Java applet?

Try using Webex without Java enabled in your browser.

Re:Arrrrrg

[LordLimecat]

Sandbox [Java VM] externally

Using what, a VM?

Yo dawg, I heard you liked virtual machines...

Not surprising

[cbhacking]

They've patched 6 of the 19 vulns that were reported back in April. Three were patched a couple months back as part of their usual 4-month patch cycle. As far as I know, those were never used in the wild. Three more were patched just recently, in response to rampant in-the-wild use and inclusion in exploit kits, etc.

Of course, that leaves 13 still unpatched, and while apparently quite a few of them are defense-in-depth (insufficient, on their own, for full compromise), when you've got that many unpatched vulns it is totally unsurprising that somebody can chain a few of them together into a working exploit.

WORE

[tobiasly]

Oracle should be commended for finally bringing their "Write Once, Run Everywhere(tm)" vision to the exploit community.

Re:WORE

[cbhacking]

Normally I'd agree with you, but the exact same thing is true of JavaScript and yet very, very few people are calling for a universal end to that. Now, a handful of people (relative to the global computer userbase) use NoScript, but even among NoScript users most realize that it's either too complex or too difficult for most people to use correctly all the time.

As it happens, I do block plug-ins (especially Flash and Java) by default, permitting them only on a case-by-case basis, except where I can remove them entirely. However, even to my (highly technical; he's been coding since he was in high school) father, that's too much of a hassle. He expects (rightly, if not wisely) that software vendors will keep their software as secure as possible, and respond quickly to any threats. That's the standard to which I'm holding Oracle here, and they're failing to meet it.

Re:WORE

[SplashMyBandit]

> With Java, you can exploit OS X, Linux, BSD, any ...
I know you say "Java applets" later on, but it is important to qualify this at every stage (since even the techie Slashdot readers appear to be horribly ignorant that there are differences between JavaScript, Java applets and Java applications).

Readers should take note:

1. 1) In general Java applications and web services are secure (in fact, more secure than C++ etc)
2. 2) It is malicious Java applets that pose a potential risk to users (just like malicious buffer-overrun inducing JPEG images do).

Now cue the hundreds of Java-hating posts that don't know the difference between JavaScript, Java applets and Java applications/servlets but still think that some other technology is more secure (hint: it is not - every tech out there has holes that get discovered from time to time - including your operating system).

Not so fast

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Not so fast.

Isn't that Java's mission statement?