US-CERT is warning users to upgrade their Java installations to protect against a number of serious security vulnerabilities.

Sun  has released alerts to address multiple vulnerabilities affecting the Sun Java   Runtime Environment.  The most  severe of these vulnerabilities  could  allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.

In total it's difficult to grasp how many seperate vulnerabilities there actually are in Java. According to US-CERT, Sun issued no less than 7 seperate alerts some of which detail multiple security vulnerabilities.

Among them are:

     * 233321   Two   Security   Vulnerabilities   in  the  Java  Runtime
       Environment Virtual Machine

     * 233322 Security Vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment With
       the Processing of XSLT Transformations

     * 233323  Multiple  Security  Vulnerabilities  in Java Web Start May
       Allow an Untrusted Application to Elevate Privileges

     * 233324  A  Security Vulnerability in the Java Plug-in May Allow an
       Untrusted Applet to Elevate Privileges

     * 233325  Vulnerabilities  in  the  Java  Runtime  Environment  image
       Parsing Library

     * 233326  Security Vulnerability in the Java Runtime Environment May
       Allow Untrusted JavaScript Code to Elevate Privileges Through Java
       APIs

     * 233327  Buffer  Overflow Vulnerability in Java Web Start May Allow
       an Untrusted Application to Elevate its Privileges

At risk are multiple Sun Java Runtime Environment versions that US-CERT details in its alert. So if you're one of the many Java users that doesn't have automatic updates for Java - go get the latest version of Java now!