Critical Mac OS X Java Vulnerability Proof of Concept

Today, Landon Fuller posted a proof-of-concept exploit for an unpatched vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment currently in use by OS X. While this particular proof-of-concept is meant to be harmless, the vulnerability itself currently affects OS X, including OS X 10.5.7, the latest shipping version of OS X. This vulnerability could be exploited to perform “drive-by-downloads” commonly used as a means to infect computers with spyware, or any arbitrary command with the permissions of the executing user. All a user has to do is visit a web page hosting a malicious java applet to be exploited. Until Apple patches their implementation of Java, we recommend that users disable Java applets in their web browser.