Tuesday, April 15, 2025
HomeCyber AttackJava Usage Tracker Critical Flaw Enable Hackers to Inject Arbitrary Files on...

Java Usage Tracker Critical Flaw Enable Hackers to Inject Arbitrary Files on Windows Systems

Published on

SIEM as a Service

Follow Us on Google News

Newly discovered critical vulnerabilities in Java Usage Tracker allows the attacker to run arbitrary files in a vulnerable windows machine and escalate local privileges to access sensitive information.

It also let attackers allow to access the resources that are normally protected or restricted to access it by other applications.

Java Usage Tracker is a part of Java functionality that helps to tracks how it is used in systems where it is installed.

- Advertisement - Google News

Tracking data including log information about the Java virtual machine (JVM) ,Dump the data into a log file, Allow log values for custom properties.

It also uses a Configuration file called usagetracker.properties which is default location on the operating system ->  %ProgramData%\Oracle\Java\.

Java Usage Tracker behavior controlled by 2 properties of usagetracker.properties of following.

  • oracle.usagetracker.logToFile
  • oracle.usagetracker.additionalProperties

According to Trend Micro research, There are two ways to control the behavior of Java Usage Tracker: Setting an arbitrary log path, and setting an arbitrary custom property. Such a combination seems unexploitable, but it can be exploited when used in conjunction with other security flaws or weaknesses.

Exploiting Custom properties of Java Usage Tracker  on Windows

A researcher explained that the configuration files in customized properties code will force to create a .bat file then it will add the custom property.

In this Image end of the properties file ping 172.0.1.1 >= null. In this case, If the batch file global_javatracker.bat is executed, it will display the error message “VM start” is not recognized.

But researchers find that However, there is a chance to execute it because the double quote surrounding every property value can be controlled by another configuration,  com.oracle.usagetracker.quote = “.

create an empty com.oracle.usagetracker.quote configuration and global_javatracker.bat execute command ping 172.0.1.1 >= null.

So once the null file is created, the Java Usage Tracker

  • Can be abused to create files in any arbitrary location in the file system.
  • Can be abused to create text scriptable files. The example uses batch files, but it can also be used to create other file types.
  • Can be abused to inject arbitrary commands (or any other text related to the scriptable file).

An another Local privilege escalate vulnerability in exploit by Java Usage Tracker can be exploit by abusing the default permission.

In this case, Default path %ProgramData%\Oracle\Java\ used to create a Java Usage Tracker global configuration file which is created during the installation of  Java Usage Tracker.

Here the default permission %ProgramData% allows “Users” of the system to create a file. When Oracle/Java’s path is created, the default permissions are inherited.

“So A user with low privileges can create a malicious configuration file usagetracker.properties and the Tomcat server can create the batch file in any location of the system because it is running with “System” privileges.” Researchers said.

Also Read:

Hackers Exploited Facebook Zero-Day Flaw & Stolen 50 Million Accounts Access Tokens

Hackers Selling Facebook Account Logins Details On Dark Web For $3

Balaji
Balaji
BALAJI is an Ex-Security Researcher (Threat Research Labs) at Comodo Cybersecurity. Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder - Cyber Security News & GBHackers On Security.

Latest articles

Microsoft Teams File Sharing Unavailable Due to Unexpected Outage

Microsoft Teams users across the globe are experiencing significant disruptions in file-sharing capabilities due...

Cloud Misconfigurations – A Leading Cause of Data Breaches

Cloud computing has transformed the way organizations operate, offering unprecedented scalability, flexibility, and cost...

Security Awareness Metrics That Matter to the CISO

Security awareness has become a critical component of organizational defense strategies, particularly as companies...

New ‘Waiting Thread Hijacking’ Malware Technique Evades Modern Security Measures

Security researchers have unveiled a new malware process injection technique dubbed "Waiting Thread Hijacking"...

Resilience at Scale

Why Application Security is Non-Negotiable

The resilience of your digital infrastructure directly impacts your ability to scale. And yet, application security remains a critical weak link for most organizations.

Application Security is no longer just a defensive play—it’s the cornerstone of cyber resilience and sustainable growth. In this webinar, Karthik Krishnamoorthy (CTO of Indusface) and Phani Deepak Akella (VP of Marketing – Indusface), will share how AI-powered application security can help organizations build resilience by

Discussion points


Protecting at internet scale using AI and behavioral-based DDoS & bot mitigation.
Autonomously discovering external assets and remediating vulnerabilities within 72 hours, enabling secure, confident scaling.
Ensuring 100% application availability through platforms architected for failure resilience.
Eliminating silos with real-time correlation between attack surface and active threats for rapid, accurate mitigation

More like this

New ‘Waiting Thread Hijacking’ Malware Technique Evades Modern Security Measures

Security researchers have unveiled a new malware process injection technique dubbed "Waiting Thread Hijacking"...

Unmasking Xworm Payload Execution Path through Jailbreaking a Malicious JScript Loader

Security researchers are analyzing a sophisticated malware delivery mechanism that uses a JScript loader...

Cybercriminals Exploit EC2 Instance Metadata Vulnerability to Launch Attacks on Hosted Websites

Cybercriminals have launched a sophisticated campaign targeting websites hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS)...