US-CERT Technical Cyber Security Alert TA08-340A -- Sun Java Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

[MEB[_2_]]

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National Cyber Alert System

Technical Cyber Security Alert TA08-340A


Sun Java Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

Original release date: December 05, 2008
Last revised: --
Source: US-CERT


Systems Affected

Sun Java Runtime Environment versions

* JDK and JRE 6 Update 10 and earlier
* JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 16 and earlier
* SDK and JRE 1.4.2_18 and earlier
* SDK and JRE 1.3.1_23 and earlier


Overview

Sun has released alerts to address multiple vulnerabilities
affecting the Sun Java Runtime Environment. The most severe of
these vulnerabilities could allow a remote attacker to execute
arbitrary code.


I. Description

The Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) allows users to run Java
applications in a browser or as standalone programs. Sun has
released updates to the Java Runtime Environment software to
address multiple vulnerabilities.

Sun released the following alerts to address these issues:

* 244986 : The Java Runtime Environment Creates Temporary Files
That Have "Guessable" File Names

* 244987 : Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Buffer Overflow
Vulnerabilities in Processing Image Files and Fonts May Allow
Applets or Java Web Start Applications to Elevate Their Privileges

* 244988 : Multiple Security Vulnerabilities in Java Web Start
and Java Plug-in May Allow Privilege Escalation

* 244989 : The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) "Java Update"
Mechanism Does Not Check the Digital Signature of the JRE that it
Downloads

* 244990 : A Buffer Overflow Vulnerability in the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE) May Allow Privileges to be Escalated

* 244991 : A Security Vulnerability in the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE) Related to Deserializing Calendar Objects May
Allow Privileges to be Escalated

* 245246 : The Java Runtime Environment UTF-8 Decoder May Allow
Multiple Representations of UTF-8 Input

* 246266 : Security Vulnerability in Java Runtime Environment May
Allow Applets to List the Contents of the Current User's Home
Directory

* 246286 : Security Vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment
With Processing RSA Public Keys

* 246346 : A Security Vulnerability in Java Runtime Environment
(JRE) With Authenticating Users Through Kerberos May Lead to a
Denial of Service (DoS)

* 246366 : Security Vulnerabilities in the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE) JAX-WS and JAXB Packages may Allow Privileges to
be Escalated

* 246386 : A Security Vulnerability in Java Runtime Environment
(JRE) With Parsing of Zip Files May Allow Reading of Arbitrary
Memory Locations

* 246387 : A Security Vulnerability in the Java Runtime
Environment may Allow Code Loaded From the Local Filesystem to
Access LocalHost


II. Impact

The impacts of these vulnerabilities vary. The most severe of these
vulnerabilities allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.


III. Solution

Apply an update from Sun

These issues are addressed in the following versions of the Sun
Java Runtime Environment:

* JDK and JRE 6 Update 11
* JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 17
* SDK and JRE 1.4.2_19
* SDK and JRE 1.3.1_24

If you install the latest version of Java, older versions may
remain installed on your computer. If you do not need these older
versions, you can remove them by following Sun's instructions.

Disable Java

Disable Java in your web browser, as described in the Securing Your
Web Browser document. While this does not fix the underlying
vulnerabilities, it does block a common attack vector.


IV. References

* Sun Alert 244986 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244986-1>

* Sun Alert 244987 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244987-1>

* Sun Alert 244988 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244988-1>

* Sun Alert 244989 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244989-1>

* Sun Alert 244990 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244990-1>

* Sun Alert 244991 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-244991-1>

* Sun Alert 245246 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-245246-1>

* Sun Alert 246266 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246266-1>

* Sun Alert 246286 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246286-1>

* Sun Alert 246346 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246346-1>

* Sun Alert 246366 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246366-1>

* Sun Alert 246386 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246386-1>

* Sun Alert 246387 -
<http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-66-246387-1>

* Java SE Technologies at a Glance -
<http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/>

* Java SE Security -
<http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/security/index.jsp>

* Can I remove older versions of the JRE after installing a newer
version? -
<http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/5000070400.xml>

* Securing Your Web Browser -
<http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/securing_browser/>

__________________________________________________ __________________

The most recent version of this document can be found at:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA08-340A.html>
__________________________________________________ __________________

Feedback can be directed to US-CERT Technical Staff. Please send
email to > with "TA08-340A Feedback VU#544435" in
the subject.
__________________________________________________ __________________

For instructions on subscribing to or unsubscribing from this
mailing list, visit <http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html>.
__________________________________________________ __________________

Produced 2008 by US-CERT, a government organization.

Terms of use:

<http://www.us-cert.gov/legal.html>
__________________________________________________ __________________

Revision History

December 05, 2008: Initial release


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[98 Guy]

MEB wrote:

> Sun Java Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities
> Systems Affected
> * JDK and JRE 6 Update 10 and earlier
> * JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 16 and earlier

> III. Solution
> Apply an update from Sun
>
> These issues are addressed in the following versions of the
> Sun Java Runtime Environment:
>
> * JDK and JRE 6 Update 11
> * JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 17
> * SDK and JRE 1.4.2_19
> * SDK and JRE 1.3.1_24

Can someone explain why there are *4* versions or streams of JRE being
supported?

If I understand this correctly, JRE 5.x is designed for win 9x/me, and
JRE 6.x is for XP (and 2K? and Vista?). If so, then when would someone
want to install any of the above-mentioned 1.4.x or 1.3.x versions?
What are they for?

I'm surprised that there is a version 5 update 17. I was under the
impression that support for 5 had ended at update 16.

Is there a functional difference between 6up11 and 5up17 ???

What exactly is the functional difference between JRE 5 and 6 anyways?

> If you install the latest version of Java, older versions may
> remain installed on your computer. If you do not need these
> older versions, you can remove them by following Sun's
> instructions.

Based on discussions a couple of years ago in some anti-malware news
groups, the consensus was that a given system would remain vulnerable to
exploits from old (and un-installed) versions of JRE even if a newer
versions were installed. In other words, removal of the older version
of JRE was absolutely necessary to secure any given system. Sun doesn't
appear to state this in such explicit terms - as in the above paragraph.