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A comment on New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild. Parent comment

Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by k3n on Friday March 01, 2013 @10:27AM (#5304681)
It makes no difference how prevalent they are in common web apps, the problem is that the Java plugin is still installed and active for a large number of users.

This is not the attack sequence:

    * site has pre-existing Java
    * site gets compromised somehow
    * site now infects users
This is how it usually plays out:

    * site gets compromised somehow
    * exploit includes a 0-day Java attack
    * site now infects users
Literally 0 sites on the net could be hosting Java applets and that would make no difference; it's the number of active Java plugins that creates the potential for mass-infection. So long as you have the Java plugin enabled, you'll be exposed to this attack.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by sixbrx on Friday March 01, 2013 @10:34AM (#5304742)
Yes - also even a user who only wants to use client side Java outside of the browsers may be in trouble because of the automatically installed browser plugins that are part of the Java installation process.

It's incredible how far and fast client side Java has fallen because of Oracle's tepid response to security concerns. I've developed many internal apps for client-side Java and supported them for over a decade. I don't think I'll develop another.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by pifflesnort on Friday March 01, 2013 @11:09AM (#5305007)
It has nothing to do with Oracle's response -- the Java sandbox is simply broken, and has been known to be broken for at least the last 5 years. There's no fixing it, the approach is fundamentally flawed and fundamental to Java.

This doesn't mean that Java for client-side applications is broken, as long as you don't rely on web based distribution and browser sandboxing.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by BigBlueSaw on Friday March 01, 2013 @01:04PM (#5305843)
Can you elaborate on "the approach is fundamentally flawed"?

Don't we rely on a similar sort of sandboxing for Javascript in the browser?

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by benmmurphy on Friday March 01, 2013 @03:22PM (#5306730)
java sandbox has a massive surface area. conceivably any class in the jre could create a hole in the sandbox. modern browser sandboxes appear to be stronger because they rely on an unprivileged process which communicates with a broker interface. the broker code is much smaller than the jre code so it is easier to verify. however, there has been sandbox bypasses. the adobe sandbox bypass was a bug in the broker interface and it can be possible to use local kernel exploits to bypass the sandbox as well.
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Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by tjoff on Friday March 01, 2013 @11:18AM (#5305080)
"This doesn't mean that Java for client-side applications is broken[...]"

I don't know. Java on the desktop requires administrator privileges to be able to notify me that an update is available. Also, it tries to install a virus in the form of "Ask toolbar" every frigging time.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by sp332 on Friday March 01, 2013 @12:15PM (#5305498)
Try installing using http://ninite.com, and use msconfig to make sure "Java Platform Auto Updater" is disabled from your startup.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by martinced on Friday March 01, 2013 @02:26PM (#5306388)
Oh you don't know my misery : (

I'm actually working on a desktop app used by hundreds of people (and installed by thousands) and my entire business model is being an ISV: trying to sell that Java app to people.

The less Java installed, the harder my life becomes ; (

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by limmeau on Friday March 01, 2013 @03:53PM (#5306879)
Are there JREs which you can secretly include in your package, so that it looks like a few-hundred MB native application which happens to be implemented in Java?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:New Java 0-Day Vulnerability Being Exploited in the Wild by jug6ernaut on Friday March 01, 2013 @10:32AM (#5304724)
Ah, fair enough.
[ Parent | on HN ]