No Java Patch For You: 93 Percent Of Users Run Older Versions Of The App

Despite growing awareness of the dangers of Java bugs and exploits, plus Oracle's update of the app in mid-April, some 93 percent of users still aren't running the latest version of the beleaguered app.

That's only a 2 percent improvement from last March, according to Websense, which released the new data today. And it's not all about consumers not applying patches: Most of the data comes from business users, according to Websense.

The lack-of-patching problem is in part a function of Java itself. "My assumption is that many are in the situation where they can't patch because they are depending on applications for productivity that won't work with altered versions," says Bob Hansmann, senior marketing manager for Websense Security Labs. Some developers have written their apps on older versions of the platform, and its open community approach has made for difficulties in compatibility of newer versions.

Some developers have written apps to a specific iteration and version of Java, and if they were to upgrade to the newer version, they would lose features or functionality, he says. That leaves users stuck with older and more vulnerable Java versions.

The latest data is a follow-up to a report back in March where Websense found that nearly 95 percent of endpoints actively running Java are vulnerable to at least a single Java exploit: Seventy-five percent of end users were running a version of Java in their browsers that's at least six months out of date; two-thirds, a year out of date; and 50 percent, more than two years out of date. And nearly one-fourth of users were employing a Java version that was more than four years old.

The newest version of Java, Version 7 Update 21, is just not getting much uptake yet, according to the data released today by Websense. The small amount of adoption has been very gradual: Two days after the release of the patch in April, less than 2 percent of users had adopted Version 7 Update 21, and after one week, less than 3 percent. Two weeks after the release, 4 percent had updated, and one month after it came out, just 7 percent had updated.

The stakes are high: Thirty-nine of the 42 security fixes in CVE-2013-2423 may be remotely exploitable without authentication, Websense points out, and a Metasploit module was released just a few days after the patch was issued by Oracle. "Not only that, but we are also monitoring the possible impact of a recent vulnerability disclosure affecting the Java SE Version 7 Update 21 itself," Websense said in a blog post today. The security firm recommends updating to the latest version, and to do the same with the upcoming patches from Oracle on June 18.

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