A vulnerability with the Java Management Extensions (JMX) implementation included with the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) may allow an untrusted applet to elevate its privileges. For example an applet may grant itself permissions to read and write local files or execute local applications that are accessible to the user running the untrusted applet.

Sun acknowledges, with thanks, Adam Gowdiak, for bringing this issue to our attention.

This issue can occur in the following releases:

Java 2 Platform Standard Edition

• JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 3 (for Windows, Solaris and Linux)or earlier

Note: SDK and JRE 1.4.2_xx and earlier, and 1.3.1_xx and earlier are not affected. All Java Management Extensions (JMX) reference implementations and all releases of the Java Dynamic Management Kit (JDMK) are not affected by this issue.

To determine the default version of the JRE on a system:

for Windows:

    Click "Start"
    Select "Run"
    Type "cmd"
    At the prompt, type "java -fullversion"

for Solaris and Linux:

    % java -fullversion
    java full version "1.5.0_02-b09"

Note: The above command only determines the default version. Other versions may also be installed on the system.

There are no reliable symptoms that would show the described issue has been exploited.

There is no workaround. Please see Resolution section below.

This issue is addressed in the following releases:

Java 2 Platform Standard Edition

• JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 4 (for for Windows, Solaris, and Linux) or later

J2SE 5.0 is available for download at the following links, http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp and http://java.com.

Note: It is recommended that affected versions be removed from your system. For more information, see the installation notes on the respective java.sun.com download pages.

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