Oracle released Java 7u25 on Tuesday. It is the first update where an update to Java 6 was not included despite February 2013 being the extended end of support for Java 6. Beyond February 2013, Java 6u43 and Java 6u45 were released. With the latest update, users of Java 5, 6, and 7 are encouraged to update to Java 7 update 25. Not publicly available, Java 6u51 and 5u51 are only available to those with support contracts from Oracle.
According to the Java blog post that accompanied the release, there are two big changes with this version in addition to bug fixes:
Java API Documentation Updater Tool
The Documentation Updater Tool is not included in JDK or JRE downloads and will need to be downloaded separately for those interested.
New JAR Manifest File Attributes
The JAR manifest file attributes will give Oracle abilities in the future to implement greater security against misusing Java applications.
JDK 7u25 release introduces the permissions and codebase attributes in the JAR Manifest File. These attributes are used to verify that the application is requesting the correct permissions level and is accessed from the correct location.
Developers are advised to utilize at least the new permissions attribute, and if possible thecodebase attribute as well. In future releases, applications that do not include these protections may be blocked or subjected to additional warning dialogs.
See the full Release Notes for more details.
You can download Java 7 Update 25 from http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp Installers for Windows (32-bit and 64-bit), Mac OS X (10.7.3+), Linux, and Solaris are available.
The next scheduled dates for Oracle Java SE Critical Patch Updates are:
15 October 2013
14 January 2014
15 April 2014
15 July 2014
Apple
In conjunction with Oracle’s Java update, Apple released updates to Java for Mac OS X. The updates include Java 6u51 unlike their Windows counterparts.
Java for OS X 2013-004 was released to provide Java 6u51 to OS X 10.7 and later.
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 16 was released to provide Java 6u51 to Mac OS X 10.6.