<p>A new zero-day vulnerability exploit has been found in all current supported versions of Oracle's Java platform. This exploit affects more than 1 billion PCs and Macs running Oracle's software.</p><p>This is just the latest in a tidal wave of issues with the Oracle platform. Microsoft and IBM have had issues specifically with how their code reacts with the platform. There are no known attacks using the vulnerability, but it exists, and there may be malware hiding within Oracle's platform lying dormant. There is no current reason to believe that the bug has any real effect on the general public, because the exploit allows hackers to bypass security of a Java Virtual Machine.</p><p>IT managers at midsize companies may find this a bit unnerving, but it is unrealistic to remove the software from all its machines. However, it may be a good idea to remove all plug-ins until a patch is released. Besides that, all IT managers can do is wait for the patch like everyone else. The patch is designed to fix 18 known bugs, and there are two others that are still under investigation.</p><p>Adam Gowdiak, a security researcher for Security Explorations, wrote about this on the Full Disclosure mailing list a list of browsers and patches that were tested. Gowdiak is known specifically for finding weaknesses in Oracle's software. In his findings all updated browsers and supported versions of the application were affected. PCs and Macs are affected equally, making the security risk high, since one set of code can affect both families of machines.</p><p><a href="http://midsizeinsider.com/en-us/article/new-java-zero-day-vulnerability-places-1">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://www.scmagazine.com/patchy-response-oracle-fumbles-response-to-java-flaw/article/259517/">Patchy response: Oracle fumbles response to Java flaw</a> (SC Magazine)</p><p><a href="http://www.macworld.com.au/news/windows-pcs-and-macs-at-risk-of-another-zero-day-java-bug-74590/">Windows PCs and Macs at risk of another zero-day Java bug</a> (Australian Macworld)</p><p><a href="http://socialbarrel.com/the-java-plugin-leaves-vulnerable-1-billion-pcs-and-macs/44427/">The Java Plugin Leaves Vulnerable 1 Billion PCs and Macs</a> (Social Barrel)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&ned=us&ncl=dHfYBuSY0lNSuLMXuiG3RzpvD94YM">4 additional articles.</a></p>