Detection of a "security threat" or vulnerability by Microsoft Security Essentials when downloading I/A Series G3

[Product_Support]

Issue

Detection of a "security threat" or vulnerability by Microsoft Security Essentials when downloading I/A Series G3

Environment

I/A Series G3 (all versions up to 3.6.31)

Cause

Recently, Oracle(R) has issued a critical patch update to address security vulnerabilities that currently exist within all versions of Java SE (Standard Edition).  Due to this patch update, Microsoft Security Essential scans have been updated to identify this as security vulnerability.  The detection by Microsoft Essentials is not a virus but a warning of a potential vulnerability that could be exploited for malicious use if precautions are not taken (e.g. firewalls, strong passwords, etc.). It is likely that McAfee, Norton, and other antivirus programs will also be issuing updates which identify this as vulnerability.  If the Niagara JRE is identified as vulnerability, it could lock down or quarantine the JRE, thus rendering Niagara unable to operate.

Note: Oracle(R) is the owner of Java since 2009, although you still often see "Sun Hotspot" in references.

Resolution

In most cases, it is not critical that a new JRE (Java Runtime Environment) release be installed for I/A Series G3.  Typically, G3 resides behind a firewall and / or strong passwords are being used however, if required and/or directed by Product Support, the following procedure can be used to manually update the JRE on the Windows based Enterprise Server, Engineering Workstation, or I/A Series G3 ENC (Soft JACE) platforms.  JRE version 6 (update 31 or higher) is required.

Note in steps below, / is your I/A Series G3 installation folder.

Download and install the desired JRE version 6 (update 31 or higher) from the Oracle web site.  For example,  Java SE Runtime Environment 6 Update 32 can be downloaded from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html.  Select and download Windows x86 Offline (32-bit) for 32-bit platforms or Windows x64 (64-bit) for 64-bit platforms.

The default installation folder is /Program Files/Java/jre(x) where (x) is the version.

1. Stop all running Niagara stations and exit all Workbench instances.
2. From a Niagara Console window, execute: plat uninstalldaemon
3. Rename //jre to //jre_old
4. Copy /Program Files/Java/jre(x) to / and make sure to rename the copied folder to jre.
5. Copy //jre_old/lib/ext/mail.jar to //jre/lib/ext/mail.jar
6. Copy //jre_old/jreVersion.xml to //jre/jreVersion.xml
7. Update the version="n.n.n.n" string in the //jre/jreVersion.xml file to match the new JRE version.
8. From a Niagara Console window, execute: plat installdaemon
9. Restart Workbench and any stations.