Just a few days after Java SE 6 Update 15 was announced, the team released Update 16 describing it as a special release providing a few key fixes. The Update 15 release comes with revisions to both the Java SE development kit (JDK) and runtime environment (JRE). These updates are Windows 7 support-ready and includes support for Internet Explorer 8, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2. New features include the Garbage-First (G1) garbage collector, plus performance and security enhancements.

The updated version of the Java SE 6 platform has seven new root certificates and the blacklist entries have been updated. The blacklist feature blocks certain signed JARs that contain serious security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by untrusted applets or applications. It will refuse to load any class or resource contained in a jar file that is on the blacklist.

Twenty-seven security vulnerabilities were fixed in Update 15, including one where it was possible for remote sites to compromise user privacy and possibly hijack web sessions, and another which allowed read access to system properties from untrusted code. Ten other bugs not considered to be security sensitive have also been patched.

The release notes for Update 16 advises that it does not contain any new fixes for security vulnerabilities to its previous release, Java SE 6 Update 15. Users who have Java SE 6 Update 15 have the latest security fixes and do not need to upgrade to this release to be current on security fixes.

More Information

Java SE 6 Update 16 Release Notes

Java SE 6 Update 15 Release Notes

Java SE Downloads

Supported System Configurations

Java SE 6 Update 15 is Here

Java SE at a Glance [...read more...]

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