JDK 8u261 Update Release Notes

Java™ SE Development Kit 8, Update 261 (JDK 8u261)

July 14, 2020

The full version string for this update release is 1.8.0_261-b12 (where "b" means "build"). The version number is 8u261.

IANA Data 2020a

JDK 8u261 contains IANA time zone data version 2020a. For more information, refer to Timezone Data Versions in the JRE Software.

Security Baselines

The security baselines for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) at the time of the release of JDK 8u261 are specified in the following table:

Keeping the JDK up to Date

Oracle recommends that the JDK is updated with each Critical Patch Update (CPU). In order to determine if a release is the latest, the following Security Baseline page can be used to determine which is the latest version for each release family.

Critical patch updates, which contain security vulnerability fixes, are announced one year in advance on Critical Patch Updates, Security Alerts and Bulletins. It is not recommended that this JDK (version 8u261) be used after the next critical patch update scheduled for October 20, 2020.

Java SE Subscription customers managing JRE updates/installs for large number of desktops should consider using Java Advanced Management Console (AMC).

For systems unable to reach the Oracle Servers, a secondary mechanism expires this JRE (version 8u261) on November 17, 2020. After either condition is met (new release becoming available or expiration date reached), the JRE will provide additional warnings and reminders to users to update to the newer version. For more information, see 23.1.2 JRE Expiration Date in the Java Platform, Standard Edition Deployment Guide.

New Features

hotspot/runtime
➜ JDK/JRE Runtime Windows Visual Studio Library (DLL) Dependency Changes

As part of ongoing maintenance, the Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 tool chain will be used to build JDK 7 and JDK 8 for Windows. JDK 8u261, in the July 2020 CPU, was built with Visual Studio 2017. With the release of the January 2021 CPU, JDK 7u291 will move to Visual Studio 2017.

Moving to Visual Studio 2017 for JDK 7 and JDK 8 requires changing the runtime library that the JDK/JRE depends on. Before this change, JDK/JRE implementations used and shipped the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86/x64) that included MSVCR100.dll [a][b]. Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 uses a different set of libraries/DLLs.

Native applications (including JNI) that have depended on and assumed the presence of MSCVR100.dll in the JDK/JRE directory will fail to run. When this happens, users will see an error such as:

"The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR100.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem."

These applications should be rebuilt and shipped with modern C++ runtime dependencies that use a later instance of Visual Studio. Applications should not depend on DLLs included with the JDK/JRE that are not documented in the product as offering support for the specification or other functionality in Java SE.

[a] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2019667

[b] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/end-of-support/end-of-support-2020

security-libs/javax.net.ssl
➜ JEP 332 Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3

JDK 8u261 includes an implementation of the Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 specification (RFC 8446). For more details including a list of the features that are supported, refer to the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) Reference Guide documentation and JEP 332.

For TLS 1.3, the following new standard algorithm names are defined:

• TLS protocol version name: TLSv1.3
• SSLContext algorithm name: TLSv1.3
• TLS cipher suite names for TLS 1.3: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256, TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

TLS 1.3 is disabled for default SSLContext("SSL" or "TLS") for client end-point.

The TLS 1.3 protocol can be enabled using several mechanisms already available in the JDK. For example, TLS 1.3 protocol can be enabled on SSL/TLS connections using SSLSocket/SSLEngine/SSLServerSocket APIs and system properties by one of the following:

1. sslSocket.setEnabledProtocols(new String[] { "TLSv1.3", "TLSv1.2"});
2. Setting up and using a TLSv1.3 based SSLContext : SSLContext ctx = SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1.3");
3. Using the SSLParameters API: sslParameters.setProtocols(new String[] {"TLSv1.3", "TLSv1.2"});
4. The jdk.tls.client.protocols system property can also be used to control the protocols in use for a TLS connection. One may launch their application with this property. For example, java -Djdk.tls.client.protocols="TLSv1.3,TLSv1.2" enables TLSv1.3 and TLSv1.2 on client SSLSockets.
5. The https.protocols system property can also be used to control the protocols on connection obtained through use of the HttpsURLConnection class or URL.openStream() operations. For example, -Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.3,TLSv1.2.

A new system property, jdk.tls.server.protocols, has been added to configure the default enabled protocol suite in the server side of the SunJSSE provider.

A new security property, jdk.tls.keyLimits, has been added for TLS 1.3. When the specified amount of data of a specific algorithm has been processed, a post-handshake Key and IV Update is triggered to derive new keys.

Note that TLS 1.3 is not directly compatible with previous versions. Although TLS 1.3 can be implemented with a backward-compatibility mode, there are still several compatibility risks to take into account when upgrading to TLS 1.3:

• TLS 1.3 uses a half-close policy, while TLS 1.2 and prior versions use a duplex-close policy. For applications that depend on the duplex-close policy, there might be compatibility issues when upgrading to TLS 1.3. A new system property, jdk.tls.acknowledgeCloseNotify, is added. The default value of the system property is "false". If the system property is set to "true", a corresponding close_notify alert will be sent when receiving a close_notify alert, and the connection will be duplex closed.
• The signature_algorithms_cert extension requires that pre-defined signature algorithms are used for certificate authentication. In practice, however, an application can use unsupported signature algorithms.
• The DSA signature algorithm is not supported in TLS 1.3. If a server is configured to only use DSA certificates, it cannot upgrade to TLS 1.3.
• The supported cipher suites for TLS 1.3 are not the same as TLS 1.2 and prior versions. If an application hard-codes cipher suites that are no longer supported, it cannot use TLS 1.3 without modifying the application code.
• The TLS 1.3 session resumption and key update behaviors are different from TLS 1.2 and prior versions. The compatibility impact should be minimal; however, there could be a risk if an application depends on the handshake details of the TLS protocols.
• The legacy com.sun.net.ssl.dhKeyExchangeFix system property has been removed from the new TLS implementation.

Improved JSSE debug logging format has been introduced to record the logger name, the logger level, the thread ID, the thread name, the time and the caller for each log item. Use the javax.net.debug=all system property to get full debug logs.

security-libs/javax.net.ssl
➜ New System Properties to Configure the TLS Signature Schemes

Two new System Properties are added to customize the TLS signature schemes in JDK. jdk.tls.client.SignatureSchemes is added for TLS client side, and jdk.tls.server.SignatureSchemes is added for server side.

Each System Property contains a comma-separated list of supported signature scheme names specifying the signature schemes that could be used for the TLS connections.

The names are described in the "Signature Schemes" section of the Java Security Standard Algorithm Names Specification.

security-libs/javax.net.ssl
➜ Negotiated Finite Field Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral Parameters for TLS

The JDK SunJSSE implementation now supports the TLS FFDHE mechanisms defined in RFC 7919. If a server cannot process the supported_groups TLS extension or the named groups in the extension, applications can either customize the supported group names with jdk.tls.namedGroups, or turn off the FFDHE mechanisms by setting the System Property jsse.enableFFDHE to false.

infrastructure
➜ Toolchain Upgrade to Xcode 10.1

Build Environment Update for macOS Moved to Xcode 10.1 On macOS, the toolchain used to build the JDK has been upgraded from Xcode 4.5 to Xcode 10.1.

Removed Features and Options

security-libs/java.security
➜ Removal of Comodo Root CA Certificate

The following expired Comodo root CA certificate was removed from the cacerts keystore:

• alias name "addtrustclass1ca [jdk]"

  Distinguished Name: CN=AddTrust Class 1 CA Root, OU=AddTrust TTP Network, O=AddTrust AB, C=SE

security-libs/java.security
➜ Removal of DocuSign Root CA Certificate

The following expired DocuSign root CA certificate was removed from the cacerts keystore:

• alias name "keynectisrootca [jdk]"

  Distinguished Name: CN=KEYNECTIS ROOT CA, OU=ROOT, O=KEYNECTIS, C=FR

Other notes

javafx/media
➜ Media Playback Does Not Work on Ubuntu 20.04

Media playback does not work on Ubuntu 20.04. This affects all media formats (such as, mp4, mp3, wav, etc.). In some cases, an error will be thrown. In other cases, the media player will switch to the ready state, but playback will not start. There is no workaround for this issue. This issue should be resolved by JDK-8239095.

core-libs/java.util:collections
➜ Better Listing of Arrays

The preferred way to copy a collection is to use a "copy constructor." For example, to copy a collection into a new ArrayList, one would write new ArrayList<>(collection). In certain circumstances, an additional, temporary copy of the collection's contents might be made in order to improve robustness. If the collection being copied is exceptionally large, then the application should be (aware of/monitor) the significant resources required involved in making the copy.

install/install
➜ Java Mission Control Is No Longer Bundled With the JDK

This version of the JDK no longer includes Java Mission Control (JMC). The jmc launcher has been removed from the JDK bin directory, and the missioncontrol directory has been removed from the JDK lib directory. The .jfr file association is not registered by JDK installers. JMC is now available as a separate download. Please visit https://www.oracle.com/javase/jmc for more information.

deploy/plugin
➜ Possible Hang of Internet Explorer 11 With JDK 8u261 on Windows 7

On Windows 7, the Internet Explorer 11 (IE 11) JavaScript engine does not interact properly with Java Applets because, beginning with 8u261, the JDK/JRE is compiled with VisualStudio 2017. For example, an application that uses the JavaScript methods setTimeout() and setInterval() may cause IE 11 to hang when a modal dialog is shown by a Java Applet.

core-svc/java.lang.management
➜ OperatingSystemMXBean Methods Inside a Container Return Container Specific Data

When executing in a container, or other virtualized operating environment, the following OperatingSystemMXBean methods in this release return container specific information, if available. Otherwise, they return host specific data:

• getFreePhysicalMemorySize()
• getTotalPhysicalMemorySize()
• getFreeSwapSpaceSize()
• getTotalSwapSpaceSize()
• getSystemCpuLoad()

security-libs
➜ Default SSL Session Cache Size Updated to 20480

The default SSL session cache size has been updated to 20480 in this JDK release

security-libs/javax.net.ssl
➜ BoringSSL Rejects JSSE TLS 1.3 HTTPS Connections When status_request Extension Is Disabled

BoringSSL is an SSL library deployed on some popular websites such as those run by Google/YouTube. An interoperability issue with the BoringSSL library can lead to a connection failure if TLSv1.3 is presented as the only enabled protocol in the ClientHello message and the certificate status_request extension is disabled. Enabling the certificate status_request extension by setting the jdk.tls.client.enableStatusRequestExtension system property to true will provide mitigation in such scenarios.

security-libs/javax.net.ssl
➜ Increase the priorities of GCM cipher suites

In TLS, a ciphersuite defines a specific set of cryptography algorithms used in a TLS connection. JSSE maintains a prioritized list of ciphersuites. In this update, GCM-based cipher suites are configured as the most preferable default cipher suites in the SunJSSE provider.

In the SunJSSE provider, the following ciphersuites are now the most preferred by default:

TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256

Note that this is a behavior change of the SunJSSE provider in the JDK, it is not guaranteed to be examined and used by other JSSE providers. There is no guarantee the cipher suites priorities will remain the same in future updates or releases.

Bug Fixes

This release also contains fixes for security vulnerabilities described in the Oracle Critical Patch Update. For a more complete list of the bug fixes included in this release, see the JDK 8u261 Bug Fixes page.