Alert

Oracle Releases Updates for Javadoc and Other Java SE Vulnerabilities

Last Revised
Alert Code
TA13-169A

Systems Affected

Any system using Oracle Java including

  • JDK and JRE 7 Update 21 and earlier
  • JDK and JRE 6 Update 45 and earlier
  • JDK and JRE 5.0 Update 45 and earlier
  • JavaFX 2.2.21 and earlier

Website owners that host Javadoc HTML API documentation

Overview

Oracle released the June 2013 Critical Patch Update for Oracle Java SE. This patch contains 40 new security fixes across Java SE products and a fix to the Javadoc Tool. API documentation in HTML format generated by the Javadoc tool that contains a right frame may be vulnerable to frame injection when hosted on a web server.

Oracle's June Critical Patch Update includes a fix to the Javadoc Tool. API documentation in HTML format generated by the Javadoc tool that contains a right frame may be vulnerable to frame injection when hosted on a web server. Additional information can be found in CERT Vulnerablity Report VU#225657. It is recommened that sites hosting such pages should re-generate the API documentation using the latest Javadoc tool and replace the current pages with the re-generated Javadoc output. In cases where regenerating API documentation is not feasible, a Java API Documentation Updater Tool that updates API documentation "in place" is available Oracle's Java SE Downloads page.

 

Impact

An attacker can cause one of the frames within a Javadoc-generated web page to be replaced with a malicious page. This vulnerability could be used for phishing or social engineering, or it could be used for browser exploitation if combined with another browser-related vulnerability.

Solution

Apply Updates

Oracle has released the June 2013 Java Critical Patch Update to address this vulnerability. Oracle Java Development Toolkit (JDK) and Javadoc users are advised to apply the June 2013 Java Critical Patch Update and regenerate and republish affected Javadoc HTML pages.

Fix-in-Place Tool

Oracle has released a fix-in-place tool named Java API Documentation Updater Tool. This fix-in-place tool can process directories or folders to search for HTML files to be remediated without having to regenerate existing Javadocs. When presented directories/folders and their sub-directories or sub-folders, the Java API Documentation Updater Tool will search for files with the following names:

  • index.htm
  • index.html
  • toc.htm
  • toc.html

For each file that matches the names noted above, the Java API Documentation Updater Tool will search the file for the affected JavaScript text and replace it with the remediated version. Note that this tool will not detect Javadoc pages that have been renamed to something other than one of the above page names.

References

Revisions

Initial Release

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