October 21, 2025
The full version string for this update release is 21.0.9+7 (where "+" means "build"). The version number is 21.0.9. This JDK conforms to version 21 of the Java SE Specification (JSR 396 2023-09-19).
For more information, refer to Timezone Data Versions in the JRE Software.
The security baselines for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) at the time of the release of JDK 21.0.9 are specified in the following table:
| Java Family Version | Security Baseline (Full Version String) |
|---|---|
| 21 | 21.0.9+7 |
| 17 | 17.0.17+8 |
| 11 | 11.0.29+8 |
| 8 | 1.8.0_471-b09 |
Oracle recommends that the JDK is updated with each Critical Patch Update. In order to determine if a release is the latest, the 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 21.0.9) be used after the next critical patch update scheduled for January 20, 2026.
Java Management Service, available to all users, can help you find vulnerable Java versions in your systems. Java SE Subscribers and customers running in Oracle Cloud can use Java Management Service to update Java Runtimes and to do further security reviews like identifying potentially vulnerable third party libraries used by your Java programs. Existing Java Management Service user click here to log in to your dashboard. The Java Management Service Documentation provides a list of features available to everyone and those available only to customers. Learn more about using Java Management Service to monitor and secure your Java Installations.
Oracle JDK 21 LTS, released in September 2023, has been permissively licensed under the free Java license and will continue to be so until one year after the subsequent LTS release. Oracle designated Oracle JDK 25, released in September of 2025, as a Long Term Support (LTS) release. Therefore, update releases of Oracle JDK 21 after September of 2026 will switch to the Java SE OTN license, the same license under which we offer updates to Java 8, 11, and 17. Users wishing to receive updates of the Oracle JDK under the free Java license should migrate to Oracle JDK 25.
TLS protocol specific usage constraints are now supported by the jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms property in the java.security configuration file, as follows:
UsageConstraint:
usage UsageType { UsageType }
UsageType:
HandshakeSignature | CertificateSignature
HandshakeSignature restricts the use of an algorithm in TLS handshake signatures. CertificateSignature restricts the use of an algorithm in certificate signatures. An algorithm with this constraint cannot include other usage types defined in the jdk.certpath.disabledAlgorithms property. The usage type follows the keyword and more than one usage type can be specified with a whitespace delimiter.
TLS cipher suites can be disabled with the jdk.tls.disabledAlgorithms security property in the java.security configuration file using one or more * wildcard characters. For example, "TLS_RSA_*" disables all cipher suites that start with "TLS_RSA_". Only cipher suites starting with "TLS_" are allowed to have wildcard characters.
The XML Signature implementation has been updated to Santuario 3.0.5. Support for four new SHA-3 based ECDSA SignatureMethod algorithms have been added: SignatureMethod.ECDSA_SHA3_224, SignatureMethod.ECDSA_SHA3_256, SignatureMethod.ECDSA_SHA3_384, and SignatureMethod.ECDSA_SHA3_512.
When IPv6 is enabled, the JDK uses dual stack IPv4/IPv6 sockets by default. Binding, connecting, or sending datagrams uses IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses in this case.
On some hosts running macOS version 15.6.x and above, and macOS 26, it has been observed that when a datagram socket bound to a IPv4 mapped IPv6 address sends a packet, either using the java.net.DatagramSocket or java.nio.channels.DatagramChannel APIs, then the first packet is lost and never gets delivered. A second invocation of send on the same socket, even to the same destination address, correctly delivers the packet and it is received by the recipient.
A bug has been filed with Apple (feedback issue id FB20302424) seeking their assistance. The issue is currently unresolved.
Until the issue is resolved, there are a couple of workarounds that applications can consider:
java command can be launched with -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true to use IPv4 sockets by default.-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true is not acceptable, a more local workaround can be applied by changing the application code to create a java.nio.channels.DatagramChannel with java.net.StandardProtocolFamily.INET as the protocol family and then bind the channel to a IPv4 address.
The following root certificates, which are deactivated and no longer in use, have been removed from the cacerts keystore:
+ alias name "affirmtrustcommercialca [jdk]"
Distinguished Name: CN=AffirmTrust Commercial, O=AffirmTrust, C=US
+ alias name "affirmtrustnetworkingca [jdk]"
Distinguished Name: CN=AffirmTrust Networking, O=AffirmTrust, C=US
+ alias name "affirmtrustpremiumca [jdk]"
Distinguished Name: CN=AffirmTrust Premium, O=AffirmTrust, C=US
+ alias name "affirmtrustpremiumeccca [jdk]"
Distinguished Name: CN=AffirmTrust Premium ECC, O=AffirmTrust, C=US
Linux RPM JDK installers now use systemd instead of init to manage the automatic jar file execution (jexec) service.
The HotSpot runtime code has been updated to additionally print a container's 'rss' and 'cache'. The additional output can be found in the JVM's response to a "jcmd [PID] VM.info" request and in the hs_err file generated in case of JVM abrupt termination.
This will help monitoring and troubleshooting OutOfMemory situations as OOM killer can terminate a process if its rss + cache usage reaches the max memory limit of the container.
The Local Computer key store is accessed using the CERT_STORE_MAXIMUM_ALLOWED_FLAG. Since this store is typically managed by administrators for security reasons, processes are only given read-only access to specific private keys. By opening the store in read-only mode, non-elevated processes can now securely use these keys without requiring elevated permissions.
Command line arguments to the Java launcher are no longer converted with Windows' "best-fit" mapping when the arguments include unmappable characters for the ANSI code page. This mapping has been intervening in the Java launcher's argument parsing. Unmappable characters are now replaced with the default replacement character, such as '?' in some cases. For rare cases, where applications need those unmappable characters on the command line, select UTF-8 in Windows Regional Settings.
The XPath processor prevents evaluation of external DTD references in raw XML documents if secure processing is enabled explicitly, such as follows:
XPathFactory xf = XPathFactory.newInstance();
xf.setFeature(XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, true);
This process will cause the XPath processor created via the factory to throw XPathExpressionException if used to evaluate a raw XML document that contains external references such as an external DTD.
Mitigation includes using External Access Properties to override that enabled by FSP. For example, the following setting will allow the process to continue when there is a reference to a file-based external DTD in the XML document:
xf.setProperty(ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD, "file");
It is recommended that applications use the XPath processor to evaluate DOM rather than raw XML documents.
The logging behavior of the TLS javax.net.debug system property has been improved in this release. The javax.net.debug property is used to generate TLS debug logs from the default JSSE provider. Previously, using the ssl option via -Djavax.net.debug=ssl produced very limited output, which reduced its usefulness for troubleshooting.
With this update, setting -Djavax.net.debug=ssl now enables comprehensive SSL debug logging, except for the data, packet, and plaintext sub-options. Applications using this option will now see significantly more detailed debug information in logs.
This release also contains fixes for security vulnerabilities described in the Oracle Critical Patch Update.
➜ Issues fixed in 21.0.8:| # | JBS | Component/Subcomponent | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JDK-8355528 | client-libs/2d | Update HarfBuzz to 11.2.0 |
| 2 | JDK-8358452 | client-libs/java.awt | JNI exception pending in Java_sun_awt_screencast_ScreencastHelper_remoteDesktopKeyImpl of screencast_pipewire.c:1214 (ID: 51119) |
| 3 | JDK-8360647 | client-libs/java.awt | [XWayland] [OL10] NumPad keys are not triggered |
| 4 | JDK-8351907 | client-libs/java.awt | [XWayland] [OL10] Robot.mousePress() is delivered to wrong place |
| 5 | JDK-8185429 | client-libs/java.awt | [macos] After a modal dialog is closed, no window becomes active |
| 6 | JDK-8341311 | client-libs/javax.accessibility | [Accessibility,macOS,VoiceOver] VoiceOver announces incorrect number of items in submenu of JPopupMenu |
| 7 | JDK-8365375 | client-libs/javax.swing | Method SU3.setAcceleratorSelectionForeground assigns to acceleratorForeground |
| 8 | JDK-8348760 | client-libs/javax.swing | RadioButton is not shown if JRadioButtonMenuItem is rendered with ImageIcon in WindowsLookAndFeel |
| 9 | JDK-8322512 | core-libs/java.lang | StringBuffer.repeat does not work correctly after toString() was called |
| 10 | JDK-8319174 | core-libs/java.math | Enhance robustness of some j.m.BigInteger constructors |
| 11 | JDK-8358764 | core-libs/java.nio | (sc) SocketChannel.close when thread blocked in read causes connection to be reset (win) |
| 12 | JDK-8314611 | core-libs/java.util:i18n | Provide more explicative error message parsing Currencies |
| 13 | JDK-8343804 | core-libs/java.util:i18n | Show the default time zone with -XshowSettings option |
| 14 | JDK-8353713 | core-libs/java.util:i18n | Improve Currency.getInstance exception handling |
| 15 | JDK-8368308 | core-libs/java.util:i18n | ISO 4217 Amendment 180 Update - Bulgaria Adopts the Euro in 2026 |
| 16 | JDK-8226919 | core-svc/tools | attach in linux hangs due to permission denied accessing /proc/pid/root |
| 17 | JDK-8347564 | hotspot/gc | ZGC: Crash in DependencyContext::clean_unloading_dependents |
| 18 | JDK-8364258 | hotspot/jfr | ThreadGroup constant pool serialization is not normalized |
| 19 | JDK-8332506 | hotspot/runtime | SIGFPE In ObjectSynchronizer::is_async_deflation_needed() |
| 20 | JDK-8350201 | hotspot/runtime | Out of bounds access on Linux aarch64 in os::print_register_info |
| 21 | JDK-8348402 | hotspot/runtime | PerfDataManager stalls shutdown for 1ms |
| 22 | JDK-8347129 | hotspot/runtime | cpuset cgroups controller is required for no good reason |
| 23 | JDK-8338154 | hotspot/test | Fix -Wzero-as-null-pointer-constant warnings in gtest framework |
| 24 | JDK-8315042 | security-libs/java.security | NPE in PKCS7.parseOldSignedData |
| 25 | JDK-8350830 | security-libs/java.security | Values converted incorrectly when reading TLS session tickets |
| 26 | JDK-8350582 | security-libs/javax.net.ssl | Correct the parsing of the ssl value in javax.net.debug |
| 27 | JDK-8355779 | security-libs/javax.net.ssl | When no "signature_algorithms_cert" extension is present we do not apply certificate scope constraints to algorithms in "signature_algorithms" extension |
| 28 | JDK-8350807 | security-libs/javax.net.ssl | Certificates using MD5 algorithm that are disabled by default are incorrectly allowed in TLSv1.3 when re-enabled |
| 29 | JDK-8332106 | tools/javac | VerifyError when using switch pattern in this(...) or super(...) |