Java version 8 update 101 has been released by Oracle. This is the latest version available for users who run Java on their PCs. Java is a programming language and computing platform. It is also a software package that runs on more than 850 million personal computers worldwide. There are lots of applications and websites that will not work properly unless you have Java installed.
Enhancements
security-libs/javax.net.ssl
Support SHA224withDSA and SHA256withDSA in the SunJSSE provider
The SHA224withDSA and SHA256withDSA algorithms are now supported in the TLS 1.2 “signature_algorithms” extension in the SunJSSE provider. Note that this extension does not apply to TLS 1.1 and previous versions.
See JDK-8049321
core-libs/java.lang.invoke
Internal package sun.invoke.anon has been removed
The internal package sun.invoke.anon has been removed. The functionality it used to provide, namely anonymous class loading with possible constant pool patches, is available via the
Unsafe.defineAnonymousClass() method.
See JDK-8081512
hotspot/runtime
New property jdk.lang.processReaperUseDefaultStackSize
When a large TLS (Thread local storage) size is set for Threads, the JVM results in a stack overflow exception. The reason for this behavior is that the reaper thread was created with a low stack size of 32768k. When a large TLS size is set, it steals space from the threads stack, which eventually results in a stack overflow. This is a known glibc bug.
To overcome this issue, we have introduced a workaround (
jdk.lang.processReaperUseDefaultStackSize
) in which the user can set the reaper threads stack size to a default instead of to 32768. This gives the reaper thread a bigger stack size, so for a large TLS size, such as 32k, the process will not fail.
Users can set this flag in one of two ways:
1. -Djdk.lang.processReaperUseDefaultStackSize=true
2. System.setProperty(“jdk.lang.processReaperUseDefaultStackSize”, “true”)
The problem has been observed only when JVM is started from JNI code in which TLS is declared using “__thread”
See JDK-8130425
Changes
security-libs/javax.net.ssl
Modify requirements on Authority Key Identifier extension field during X509 certificate chain building
The requirement to have the Authority Key Identifier (AKID) and Subject Key Identifier (SKID) fields matching when building X509 certificate chains has been modified for some cases.
See JDK-8072463
hotspot/gc
Providing more granular levels for GC verification
This enhancement provides a way to specify more granular levels for the GC verification enabled using the VerifyBeforeGC, VerifyAfterGC, and VerifyDuringGC diagnostic options. It introduces a new diagnostic optionVerifySubSet with which one can specify the subset of the memory system that should be verified.
With this new option, one or more sub-systems can be specified in a comma separated string. Valid memory sub- systems are:
threads, heap, symbol_table, string_table, codecache dictionary, classloader_data_graph, metaspace, jni_handles, c-heap, and codecache_oops.
During the GC verification, only the sub-systems specified using VerifySubSet get verified:
D:\tests>java -XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:+VerifyBeforeGC -XX:VerifySubSet="threads,c-heap" -Xlog:gc+verify=debug Test
[0.095s][debug ][gc,verify] Threads
[0.099s][debug ][gc,verify] C-heap
[0.105s][info ][gc,verify] Verifying Before GC (0.095s, 0.105s) 10.751ms
[0.120s][debug ][gc,verify] Threads
[0.124s][debug ][gc,verify] C-heap
[0.130s][info ][gc,verify] Verifying Before GC (0.120s, 0.130s) 9.951ms
[0.148s][debug ][gc,verify] Threads
[0.152s][debug ][gc,verify] C-heap
If any invalid memory sub-systems are specified with VerifySubSet, the Java process exits with the following error message:
D:\tests>java -XX:+UnlockDiagnosticVMOptions -XX:+VerifyBeforeGC -XX:VerifySubSet="threads,c-heap,hello" -Xlog:gc+verify=debug oom
Error occurred during initialization of VM
VerifySubSet: 'hello' memory sub-system is unknown, please correct it
See JDK-8072725
core-libs/javax.naming
Improved exception handling for bad LDAP referral replies
The JDK was throwing a NullPointerException when a non-compliant REFERRAL status result was sent but no referral values were included. With this change, a NamingException with message value of “Illegal encoding: referral is empty” will be thrown in such circumstances.
See JDK-8149450 and JDK-8154304
Bug Fixes
The following are some of the notable bug fixes included in this release:
security-libs/javax.net.ssl
Fix to resolve “Unable to process PreMasterSecret, may be too big” issue
Recent JDK updates introduced an issue for applications that depend on having a delayed provider selection mechanism. The issue was introduced in JDK 8u71, JDK 7u95 and JDK 6u111. The main error seen corresponded to an exception like the following :
handling exception: javax.net.ssl.SSLProtocolException: Unable to process PreMasterSecret, may be too big
See JDK-8149017
This release also contains fixes for security vulnerabilities described in the Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Update Advisory. For a more complete list of the bug fixes included in this release, see the JDK 8u102 Bug Fixes page.
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