Apple Releases Second Update to Java in Two Days

Apple has released its second update in two days to the OS X implementation of Java. The first update closed a vulnerability that has led to the infection of more than 600,000 Macs via a trojan horse. The infections have received increased media attention in the past day, including a splashed headline on the Drudge Report.

javaupdate
While yesterday's Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 update closed the vulnerability in Java 1.6.0_29, there's no indication what the new update -- called Java for OS X 2012-002 -- fixes. The update notes link to the same support document as update 2012-001.

Last year, Apple introduced a security update to OS X that would automatically remove malicious software from OS X installations. It isn't clear if the infected machines can be fixed via the internal OS X security mechanisms.

In OS X Mountain Lion, the next version of the OS X software that will be released this summer, Apple will include a feature called Gatekeeper. The new system relies not only on Mac App Store distribution as means of vetting apps, but also on a new "identified developer" program under which developers distributing their applications outside of the Mac App Store can register with Apple and receive a personalized certificate they can use to sign their applications. Apple can then use that system to track developers and disable their certificates if malicious activity is detected.

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
apple music chatgpt

ChatGPT's Apple Music Integration Is Now Live

Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists. Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes. ChatGPT can be used to...
apple iphone air battery pack

Apple Aims to Boost Popularity of iPhone Air 2 in Two Ways

Tuesday December 16, 2025 11:06 am PST by
We have been covering iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Fold details from The Information's report about future iPhone models, and next up is the iPhone Air 2. The report says that Apple aims to make the iPhone Air 2 more attractive in two ways. First, Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device, which would resolve a key limitation. The current iPhone...
maxresdefault

Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

Tuesday December 16, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The finding comes from leaked kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. These kernel debug kit files enumerate unreleased Apple hardware by internal identifiers, such as codenames and platform names, and they...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...

Top Rated Comments

Dragado Avatar
179 months ago
It's also Friday the 6th right now.
Does this mean the world's going to end again? I don't think I can take another world ending; I may die of laughter.

Hi. Can you guys tell me whether you think my Macbook got infected? Yesterday I did a search for "msnbc live feed online." Two of the results were websites called zahipedia.info.com and the other epctv.com. I can't remember which of the two it was (I think the latter), but, when I went to it, a small window popped up telling me that I should clean my computer of junk. I clicked OK to get rid of the window, then Safari froze up. I couldn't even quit it until I forced quit it via Finder. Could this have infected my computer? My Macbook is fairly new and, as far as I know, free of junk. Is epctv a dangerous site? Why did it tell me I had junk? How would I find out if I got infected? Thanks.
By the way, laws of computing 101: The OK button agrees to something, the Cancel/close window button disagrees. If you click OK, know what you're saying OK to.

EDIT: In other words, stop using it to close windows.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fel10 Avatar
179 months ago
66.6 :eek:

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MonkeySee.... Avatar
179 months ago
I love how these "professionals" are calling it a virus :rolleyes:
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MarkMS Avatar
179 months ago
Straight from Apple's Java mailing list. Just an issue with Xcode and App Loader in OS X Lion. Snow Leopard users don't need the tiny update.

Java developers,

Today we re-shipped our Java 1.6.0_31 for OS X Lion today to address a critical issue we found in Xcode and the Application Loader tool. This new "Java for OS X 2012-002" package is effectively identical to "Java for OS X 2012-001", with the exception of a few symlinks and version numbers.

For the sake of expediency, we have re-rolled the automatic update as our standard full combo updater, with the hope that most users have not yet been presented with 2012-001. We considered creating a delta update for users who already installed 001, but that would have made the process of getting these fixes to you take longer.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and would like to offer our thanks to the developers who caught this issue and reported it to us as quickly as they did. This issue only impacts Lion users, so Snow Leopard users have nothing to reinstall.

Over the next few days, we will catch up with producing updated release notes, tech notes, and developer packages with the revised 002 version numbers.

Manual download links:
Java for OS X 2012-002: <http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1515>
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7: <http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1516>
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jabman Avatar
179 months ago
Hey if it's broken fix it.:cool:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Morod Avatar
179 months ago
Hi. Can you guys tell me whether you think my Macbook got infected? Yesterday I did a search for "msnbc live feed online." Two of the results were websites called zahipedia.info.com and the other epctv.com. I can't remember which of the two it was (I think the latter), but, when I went to it, a small window popped up telling me that I should clean my computer of junk. I clicked OK to get rid of the window, then Safari froze up. I couldn't even quit it until I forced quit it via Finder. Could this have infected my computer? My Macbook is fairly new and, as far as I know, free of junk. Is epctv a dangerous site? Why did it tell me I had junk? How would I find out if I got infected? Thanks.

To find out if you're infected, do this:


Originally Posted by Sirolway
What's the easiest way to determine if you're infected?...


In terminal run:
Quote:
defaults read /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info LSEnvironment
You should get this error:
Quote:
The domain/default pair of (/Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info, LSEnvironment) does not exist
Then run:
Quote:
defaults read ~/.MacOSX/environment DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES
You should get this error:
Quote:
The domain/default pair of (/Users/YOURUSER/.MacOSX/environment, DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES) does not exist


You can copy and paste the two commands into Terminal. To open Terminal, go to Finder>Applications>Utilities>Terminal. Double click on Terminal. Hit enter after each command.
Just be careful when using Terminal. It's one of the few places where you can really mess up your computer.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)