Hello, this is Eric Maurice again.

Oracle just released a Security Alert with a fix for the vulnerability CVE-2010-4476, which affects Oracle Java SE and Oracle Java For Business. This vulnerability is present in Java running on servers as well as standalone Java desktop applications. Its successful exploitation by a malicious attacker can result in a complete denial of service for the affected servers.

While only recently publicly disclosed, a number of Internet sites have since then reproduced details about this vulnerability, including exploit codes, which may result in allowing a malicious attacker to create a denial of service condition against the targeted system. Oracle therefore strongly recommends that affected organizations apply this fix as soon as possible. Please note that a fix for this vulnerability will also be included in the upcoming Java Critical Patch Update (Java SE and Java for Business Critical Patch Update - February 2011), which will be released on February 15th 2011.

Note that the impact of this vulnerability on desktops is minimal: the affected applications or applets running in Internet browsers for example, might stop responding and may need to be restarted; however the desktop itself will not be compromised (i.e. no compromise at the desktop OS level). Oracle therefore recommends that consumers use the Java auto-update mechanism to get this fix. This will prompt them to install the latest version of the Java Runtime Environment 6 update 24 or higher (JRE), which includes the fix for this vulnerability. JRE 6 update 24 will also be distributed with the Java SE and Java for Business Critical Patch Update - February 2011.

For More Information:

The Critical Patch Updates and Security Alerts page is located at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alerts-086861.html

The Advisory for Security Alert CVE-2010-4476 is located at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/alert-cve-2010-4476-305811.html

More information on Oracle Software Security Assurance is located at http://www.oracle.com/us/support/assurance/index.html

Consumers can go to http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp to ensure that they have the latest version of Java running on their desktops. More information on Java Update is available at http://www.java.com/en/download/help/java_update.xml