On Sunday, Oracle shipped a critical security update - Java 7 Update 11 - which fixed a security vulnerability which was detected in the latest version of Java, and was reportedly being "massively exploited in the wild."

The security fix by Oracle came close on the heels of a recent warning by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which suggested that users should temporarily disable Java completely on their computers because hackers could potentially exploit the flaw to install malicious software and gain control of their systems.

The warning by the DHS came in the wake of the disclosure of the security vulnerability in a Thursday blog post by a European security researcher - blogging under the name Kafeine - who first discovered the vulnerability.

Confirming that the security vulnerability affected Microsoft Windows, Apple's Mac OS X and Linux platforms, the DHS said in its warning that it was "unaware of a practical solution to this problem."

Meanwhile, reporting that the flaw has now been fixed by Oracle in a recently-released update, KrebsOnSecurity reporter Brian Krebs said that the update essentially makes a change in the way Java handles Web applications.

About the changes, Oracle said in its advisory that "the default security level for Java applets and Web start applications has been increased from 'Medium' to 'High'," and elaborated: "With the 'High' setting the user is always warned before any unsigned application is run to prevent silent exploitation."