Oracle patches 17 critical vulnerabilities

The patches aim to tighten security in the Java SE platform

Oracle has released patches to fix 17 critical vulnerabilities in its Java SE platform.

Five of the patches apply to both client and server versions of Java SE, 11 apply just to client versions, and one applies to only the server version of Java SE.

In a notice about the patches on its web site, Oracle said: "Owing to the threat posed by a successful attack, Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply [these] fixes as soon as possible."

Attacks on applications using Java have increased in recent years, as hackers have tended to focus less on the Windows operating system.

Earlier this year, security firm Kaspersky Lab found that vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, PDFs and Java represent 66 per cent of all online attacks.

The next critical patch update for Java SE is scheduled for 18 October 2011.