A vulnerability in the Virtual Machine of the Java Runtime Environment 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, Azul Systems, Inc., for bringing this issue to our attention.

This issue can occur in the following releases (for Windows, Solaris, and Linux):

• JDK and JRE 6 Update 2 and earlier
• JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 12 and earlier
• SDK and JRE 1.4.2_15 and earlier
• SDK and JRE 1.3.1_20 and earlier

To determine the default version of the JRE that Internet Explorer uses:

1. Click "Tools" in the Menu Bar at the top of the browser
2. Select "Sun Java Console"
3. The first two lines in the console display the version of Java Plug-in and JRE that Internet Explorer uses.

To determine the default version of the JRE that Mozilla or Firefox browsers use, visit the URL "about:plugins".

The browser will display a page called "Installed plug-ins" which lists the version of the Java Plug-in:

Java(TM) Plug-in 1.5.0_11-b03

The above example indicates that the version of the JRE that the browser uses is 1.5.0_11.

There are no predictable symptoms that would indicate the issue described is being exploited.

There is no workaround for this issue. Please see the Resolution section below.

This issue is addressed in the following releases (for Windows, Solaris, and Linux):

• JDK and JRE 6 Update 3 or later
• JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 13 or later
• SDK and JRE 1.4.2_16 or later

This issue is addressed in the following release for Windows and Solaris 8:

• SDK and JRE 1.3.1_21 or later

JDK and JRE 6 Update 3 is available for download at the following links:

http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp

http://java.com

JDK 6 Update 3 for Solaris is available in the following patches:

• Java SE 6 Update 3 (as delivered in patch 125136-04 or later)
• Java SE 6 Update 3 (as delivered in patch 125137-04 or later (64bit))
• Java SE 6_x86 Update 3 (as delivered in patch 125138-04 or later)
• Java SE 6_x86 Update 3 (as delivered in patch 125139-04 or later (64bit))

JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 13 is available for download at the following link:

http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index_jdk5.jsp

JDK 5.0 Update 13 for Solaris is available in the following patches:

• J2SE 5.0 Update 13 (as delivered in patch 118666-14)
• J2SE 5.0 Update 13 (as delivered in patch 118667-14 (64bit))
• J2SE 5.0_x86 Update 13 (as delivered in patch 118668-14)
• J2SE 5.0_x86 Update 13 (as delivered in patch 118669-14 (64bit))

SDK and JRE 1.4.2 is available for download at:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html

SDK and JRE 1.3.1 for Solaris 8 is available for download at:

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download.html

SDK and JRE 1.3.1 has completed the Sun End of Life (EOL) process and is only supported for customers with Solaris 8 and Vintage Support Offering support contracts (see http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download.html). Sun strongly recommends that users upgrade to the latest releases.

Note: When installing a new version of the product from a source other than a Solaris patch, it is recommended that the old affected versions be removed from your system. To remove old affected versions on the Windows platform, please see:

http://java.com/en/download/help/uninstall_java.xml

This solution has no attachment