WARNING TO ALL JAVA USERS, DISABLE OR UPDATE TO 7u11 NOW

[Tsuki]

http://mashable.com/2013/01/13/java-exploit/

Seriously. I don't want anyone to fall victim to anything like this D:

[Rawr]

Lovely, just lovely, oh well may as well uninstall it and run a boot time scan.

[Boven]

It should be noted that, unless you're running Windows 8, you do not, in all likelihood, have the version of Java which is affected.

To quote the journal posting of a friend:

The big terrible dangerous flaw in Java that they are reporting was introduced in version 7, release 10 to be exact. It involves a totally new function call, and poses a risk only for Java run from the web using the Java plug-in (or possibly Java programs downloaded that require version 7.)

Version 7 of the Java plug-in is not present on most PCs yet. Most of us, and especially those who are not running Windows 8, probably have version 6. Scripts designed to take advantage of the flawed function do not work with version 6.


The official CERT alert regarding it is here: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-240A.html and notes that downgrading from 7 to 6 removes the vulnerability.

It's been a while, but I believe that typing java -version at the command prompt will tell you the version of Java you have. It will, however, return the version with a 1 in front of it, so version 6 would show as 1.6.x

If one does have version 7, then something does need to be done, however, it's not really worth getting into a panic over, especially since the majority of people still have version 6.

[Kalliope]

NPR's coverage: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... sabling-it

Nice checklists for how to disable/see if you're running it.

[Boven]

Oh, and I should also mention that Firefox (at least on my machine here at work and the ones at home) seems to have automatically disabled the java plugin thanks to the folks at Mozilla.

[Tsuki]

Yup, I noticed for a while Java was not working in my browser (but I didn't care cause I don't use anything java related in browser), but then Avast! antivirus was all
GURL, YOU SHOULD CHECK DIS SHIT OUT! And I was all
O:
D:
D:<

[Danielfboone]

It should be noted that, unless you're running Windows 8, you do not, in all likelihood, have the version of Java which is affected.

To quote the journal posting of a friend:

The big terrible dangerous flaw in Java that they are reporting was introduced in version 7, release 10 to be exact. It involves a totally new function call, and poses a risk only for Java run from the web using the Java plug-in (or possibly Java programs downloaded that require version 7.)

Version 7 of the Java plug-in is not present on most PCs yet. Most of us, and especially those who are not running Windows 8, probably have version 6. Scripts designed to take advantage of the flawed function do not work with version 6.


The official CERT alert regarding it is here: http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA12-240A.html and notes that downgrading from 7 to 6 removes the vulnerability.

It's been a while, but I believe that typing java -version at the command prompt will tell you the version of Java you have. It will, however, return the version with a 1 in front of it, so version 6 would show as 1.6.x

If one does have version 7, then something does need to be done, however, it's not really worth getting into a panic over, especially since the majority of people still have version 6.

This is not completely true. Version 6 is being automatically replaced with 7 by the updating procedure with regularity on all versions of Windows. It has happened on all 3 of my systems,one with XP, one with Vista, and one with Win 7.

Another thing is that some security firms are saying that the 7.11 update is not enough and that it might take as long as 2 years to fully remove the threat. All the update does is ramp up the default security setting and prompt you to allow Java to run every time a site requests it.

[Qinni]

Is there a safe java to download at all? I'm not really good with these computer type stuff but I Uninstalled my current java.

[Tsuki]

Java 7u11 is supposed to be safest, however, AFAIK, the only thing it does is ask permission.
Personally, I'd just disable it/uninstall it, since not much uses Java anyway.

[Lisaara]

http://mashable.com/2013/01/13/java-exploit/

Seriously. I don't want anyone to fall victim to anything like this D:

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/techn ... -1B7938755

This might be more relevant.

[Azunara]

Turns out my Firefox was on the ball, I went to go disable and found it was already disabled. Granted, I've been running the old version because I'm also incredibly lazy about updating my computer. It's a bad habit, I'll admit. >>;

[cowmuflage]

Yeah Firefox told me it would be best to disable it so I did.

[Rhyela]

I had Java 6, but I went ahead and uninstalled it anyway just to be safe. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Danielfboone]

A lot of online games still run on Java and my friend here would never be able to live without them so Java stays in this house. I haven't disabled it on my machine either. We just switched to the new version of Comodo Internet Security and they claim it will stop any exploits. It works wonderfully by the way. It is now very silent and the HIPS module is actually disabled by default with a new Behavior Blocker taking it's place and doing much of the same things but silently.