ID: IRCNE2013071907
Date: 2013-07-20
According to "computerworld", security researchers from Polish vulnerability research firm Security Explorations claim to have identified a new vulnerability in Java 7 that could allow attackers to bypass the software's security sandbox and execute arbitrary code on the underlying system.
The vulnerability was reported Thursday to Oracle along with proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit code, said Adam Gowdiak, the CEO and founder of Security Explorations, in a message to the Full Disclosure mailing list.
According to Gowdiak, the vulnerability is located in the Reflection API (application programming interface), a feature that was introduced in Java 7 and which has been the source of many critical Java vulnerabilities so far. Security Explorations confirmed that its PoC exploit code works against Java SE 7 Update 25 and earlier versions, he said.
The new issue identified by Security Explorations can allow hackers to implement a "classic" attack that has been known for at least 10 years, Gowdiak said.
The researcher claims that the vulnerability allows attackers to violate a fundamental Java VM security feature -- the safety of its type system.
At the end of May, Nandini Ramani, Oracle's vice president of engineering for the Java Client and Mobile Platforms, reaffirmed in a blog post the company's commitment to strengthening the security of Java.
"The Java development team has expanded the use of automated security testing tools, facilitating regular coverage over large sections of Java platform code," Ramani said at the time.
"Sophisticated analysis tools should not miss simple Reflection API flaws," Gowdiak said. "That should speak for itself."
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