×Welcome to the new and improved LinuxSecurity!After many months in development, LinuxSecurity is pleased to announce the public beta of our new site with more of the stuff we love best - the latest news, advisories, feature articles, interviews, and other content relevant to the Linux user.While we work out any last-minute issues during this beta period, we would really appreciate your input. We need your help to identify any bugs or features we may have missed. See something you really like or don't like? Please share your thoughts! Java-1.5.0-bea as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Extras and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Supplementary, contains security flaws and should not be used. This update has been rated as having important security impact by the Red Hat Security Response Team.
Red Hat Security AdvisorySynopsis: Important: java-1.5.0-bea security updateAdvisory ID: RHSA-2008:1044-01Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux ExtrasAdvisory URL: date: 2008-12-18Keywords: Security1. Summary:java-1.5.0-bea as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Extras and Red HatEnterprise Linux 5 Supplementary, contains security flaws and should not beused.This update has been rated as having important security impact by the RedHat Security Response Team.2. Relevant releases/architectures:Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS version 4 Extras - i386, ia64, x8664Red Hat Desktop version 4 Extras - i386, x8664Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 Extras - i386, ia64, x8664Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 4 Extras - i386, ia64, x8664RHEL Supplementary (v. 5 server) - i386, ia64, x86643. Description:The BEA WebLogic JRockit JRE and SDK contains BEA WebLogic JRockit VirtualMachine and is certified for the Java™ 2 Platform, Standard Edition,v1.5.0.The java-1.5.0-bea packages are vulnerable to important security flaws andshould no longer be used.A flaw was found in the Java Management Extensions (JMX) management agent.When local monitoring was enabled, remote attackers could use this flaw toperform illegal operations. (CVE-2008-3103)Several flaws involving the handling of unsigned applets were found.
Aremote attacker could misuse an unsigned applet in order to connect toservices on the host running the applet. (CVE-2008-3104)Several flaws in the Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) client and theJAX-WS service implementation were found. A remote attacker who could causemalicious XML to be processed by an application could access URLs, or causea denial of service. (CVE-2008-3105, CVE-2008-3106)A buffer overflow vulnerability was found in the font processing code.
Thisallowed remote attackers to extend the permissions of an untrusted appletor application, allowing it to read or write local files, as well as toexecute local applications accessible to the user running the untrustedapplication. (CVE-2008-3108)The vulnerabilities concerning applets listed above can only be triggeredin java-1.5.0-bea, by calling the 'appletviewer' application.BEA was acquired by Oracle® during 2008 (the acquisition was completed onApril 29, 2008).
Consequently, JRockit is now an Oracle offering and theseissues are addressed in the current release of Oracle JRockit. Due to alicense change by Oracle, however, Red Hat is unable to ship OracleJRockit.Users who wish to continue using JRockit should get an update directly fromOracle: to Oracle JRockit include the Java 2 Technology Edition of theIBM® Developer Kit for Linux and the Sun™ Java SE Development Kit (JDK),both of which are available on the Extras or Supplementary channels.
Java 1.5.0 Linux Server
ForJava 6 users, the new OpenJDK open source JDK will be included in Red HatEnterprise Linux 5.3 and will be supported by Red Hat.This update removes the java-1.5.0-bea packages due to their known securityvulnerabilities.4. Solution:Before applying this update, make sure that all previously-releasederrata relevant to your system have been applied.This update is available via Red Hat Network.