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Oracle Calls Java Serialization 'A Horrible Mistake', Plans to Dump It (infoworld.com)

An anonymous reader quotes InfoWorld: Oracle plans to drop from Java its serialization feature that has been a thorn in the side when it comes to security. Also known as Java object serialization, the feature is used for encoding objects into streams of bytes... Removing serialization is a long-term goal and is part of Project Amber, which is focused on productivity-oriented Java language features, says Mark Reinhold, chief architect of the Java platform group at Oracle.

To replace the current serialization technology, a small serialization framework would be placed in the platform once records, the Java version of data classes, are supported. The framework could support a graph of records, and developers could plug in a serialization engine of their choice, supporting formats such as JSON or XML, enabling serialization of records in a safe way. But Reinhold cannot yet say which release of Java will have the records capability. Serialization was a "horrible mistake" made in 1997, Reinhold says. He estimates that at least a third -- maybe even half -- of Java vulnerabilities have involved serialization. Serialization overall is brittle but holds the appeal of being easy to use in simple use cases, Reinhold says.

2 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Was very obvious back then by TheRealMindChild · · Score: 4, Funny

    If XML isn't the solution to your problem, you aren't using enough

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    "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
  2. Re: Object serialization is dangerous. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thank Go weaning me off ruby's eval().

    That's because Google's motto is "Do no eval".

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    Ezekiel 23:20