LinuxQuestions.org - US-CERT Alert TA13-032A - Oracle Java 7 Multiple Vulnerabilities

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US-CERT Alert TA13-032A - Oracle Java 7 Multiple Vulnerabilities

The Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Update Advisory for February 2013 states that Java 7 Update 13 addresses vulnerabilities.

See US-CERT Alert at http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/858729.

See Oracle Java SE Downloads at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/ja...ads/index.html.

US-CERT recommends:

Quote:

Solution

Update Java

The Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Update Advisory for February 2013
states that Java 7 Update 13 addresses these vulnerabilities.

Disable Java in web browsers

These and previous Java vulnerabilities have been widely targeted
by attackers, and new Java vulnerabilities are likely to be
discovered. To defend against this and future Java vulnerabilities,
consider disabling Java in web browsers until adequate updates have
been installed. As with any software, unnecessary features should
be disabled or removed as appropriate for your environment.

Starting with Java 7 Update 10, it is possible to disable Java
content in web browsers through the Java control panel applet. From
Setting the Security Level of the Java Client:

For installations where the highest level of security is required,
it is possible to entirely prevent any Java apps (signed or
unsigned) from running in a browser by de-selecting Enable Java
content in the browser in the Java Control Panel under the Security
tab.

If you are unable to update to at least Java 7 Update 10 please see
the solution section of Vulnerability Note VU#636312 for
instructions on how to disable Java on a per-browser basis.

Restrict access to Java applets

Network administrators unable to disable Java in web browsers may
be able to help mitigate these and other Java vulnerabilities by
restricting access to Java applets using a web proxy. Most web
proxies have features that can be used to block or whitelist
requests for .jar and .class files based on network location.
Filtering requests that contain a Java User-Agent header may also
be effective. For environments where Java is required on the local
intranet, the proxy can be configured to allow access to Java
applets hosted locally, but block access to Java applets on the
internet.

Hope this helps some.

Quote:

Hope this helps some.

Thanks, I already disabled it in FF, and use openJDK for my own purposes locally...

Don't forget to disable it in SeaMonkey, Konqueror and any other browsers you may use (particularly IE if you're running Windows anywhere).

I tried OpenJDK (a few weeks back when the plug-in problem first reared it's ugly head) but found that a couple of Java applications I have (and use pretty much daily) would not work properly in OpenJDK (and I don't why and I didn't want to debug it myself), so back to Oracle (shudder).

A consensus out there in the world seems to be that Java needs a complete re-write (it is a behemoth, basically C++ without structures and pointers). Now, that will be a while down the highway, methinks.

Who knows, maybe the OpenJDK folk can clean it up, eh?

The big problem is that Java is not Oracle's core bizz. It's that simple. If a local butcher starts baking bread, would'nt you raise an eyebrow? I would...

Just updated java to jre 7 u13 and I opened a java test page.It shows like this.

http://i.imgur.com/WjnC9ZV.png

Did you disable Java in your browser? In Firefox (or SeaMonkey) it's Tools, Add-ons, Plug-ins, Disable (on the Java Plug-in). An installation of Java turns that on by default (at least on my servers it did when I updated).

What test page are you using, by the way.

Yes, its enabled by default when I installed it. I'm using Cent OS 6.3, 32 bit. The test page I used is http://www.w3.org/People/mimasa/test/object/java/clock

OK, on my systems that test page displays four patches all of which say the plugin is disabled (as should be the case).

As an aside, there is no reason whatsoever that the Java plugin should be enabled under any circumstances with the extremely rare case that you must visit a web site that you know and trust (and, believe me, there are not a whole lot of those).

Disable the plugin and be done with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tronayne (Post 4889827)

As an aside, there is no reason whatsoever that the Java plugin should be enabled under any circumstances with the extremely rare case that you must visit a web site that you know and trust

That's not an aside: it should be the default by now.