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.

The following statement is from Sunsolve Document ID 102729:
Two buffer overflow vulnerabilities in the Java Runtime Environment may independently 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, Chris Evans, for bringing these issues to our attention.

A remote unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code.

Upgrade
Sun has released an upgrade to address this issue. See Sunsolve Document ID 102729 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 web page from exploiting this vulnerability. See Securing Your Web Browser for instructions on how to disable Java in your browser.