Software Engineering Institute

The Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) allows users to run Java applications in a browser or as standalone programs. Sun has made the JRE available for multiple operating systems.

Per Sunsolve Document ID 102731:
Two vulnerabilities related to serialization in the Java Runtime Environment may independently allow an untrusted applet or application to elevate its privileges.

An attacker may be able to run a Java applet on a vulnerable system with elevated privileges.

Upgrade
Sun has released an upgrade to address this issue. See Sunsolve Document ID 102731 for more details. To adjust the JRE update settings, see the update section of the Java deployment guide.

Disable Java

Disabling the Java browser plugin may prevent a malicious webpage from exploiting this vulnerability. See the Securing Your Web Browser for instructions on how to disable Java in your browser.