It's that time again: there are new Oracle JVM updates released today (Jul 21, 2026) for the current long-term support (LTS) releases of Oracle Java 25, 21, 17, 11, and 8, as well as the newest short-term release, 26. (Yep, kind of crazy that there are for now 5 current Oracle Java "LTS" releases, for historical reasons.)

TLDR: The new updates are 26.0.2, 25.0.4, 21.0.12, 17.0.20, 11.0.32, and 1.8.0_501 (aka 8u501) respectively. From a compatibility perspective, the update seems a pretty modest one, without seeming breaking changes (though my opinion is based solely on my read of the update release notes, on this first day).

More on the updates below, including links to more info on each of them including what changed, bug fixes, and the security fixes each version contains. (I also offer a quick assessment of some of the compatibility-oriented changes listed for the updates.)

FWIW, openjdk updates are usually released at the same time or soon after, so this info may help users of such alternative JDK implementations.

For some folks, the above is all they need to hear. For others, whether this your first time updating Java or your fiftieth, there are some things that you may or may not know, as I cover here.

Topics:

• Finding more info on these most recent Java updates
• Changes, in brief, especially from a compatibility perspective
• Finding more on security matters addressed in these Java updates
• Obtaining the JVM update, from Oracle or from Adobe
• Other topics you may be interested to know, and where I discuss them
• Wrapping up, getting more help

Note also that Oracle while calls these updates "critical patch updates" (yep, "CPU"), they are in fact scheduled quarterly updates (Jan, Apr, Jul, Oct, with specific dates listed here), so that the "critical" aspect of this nomenclature may sometimes be a bit overstated. See more below on the specific security changes. And as is generally the case with these Java updates, most of them have the same changes and fixes across the current LTS JVM versions, though not always.

Finding more info on these most recent Java updates

As for what changed in the updates, see the release notes for each of:

• release notes for 26.0.2
• release notes for 25.0.4
• release notes for 21.0.12
• release notes for 17.0.20
• release notes for 11.0.32
• release notes for 1.8.0_501

(Again, Java 26 is a "short-term" release while the others are what Oracle calls "long-term support" or LTS releases.)

These Oracle release notes typically have sections on topics such as "New Features", "Known Issues", "Issues Fixed", "Other notes", and "Fixes"--each as may apply to that specific update, though some changes may (and often do) apply to all or multiple versions, especially the LTS ones.

For the details of what's new or changed (or fixed), see the release note for whichever update you are considering applying, as I don't want to repeat the details there.

Changes, in brief, especially from a compatibility perspective

But since I'm focused on helping people who may be wanting to apply the updates more (as much for security reasons/to stay updated), here is at least a brief assessment of the changes from the perspective of compatibility issues, as I've compared them across all of the LTS versions that were updated:

This JVM update seems pretty innocuous, across all the versions, as far as compatibility is concerned.

What if you're skipping over other recent JVM updates?

That said, while sometimes there may (or may not) be much significant to any one Java version's update (or nothing may seem to apply to you), note that if instead you may be skipping OVER recent Java updates to get to this one, then you DO need to consider also what was changed in THOSE updates. Of course, Oracle offers a release notes document for each version's update, and I offer a blog post like this on each such set of updates. See my java category of posts.

Also, you can find the list of the release notes for all the updates for each of Java versions 25, 21, 17, 11, and 8.

Finding more on security matters addressed in these Java updates

As for security fixes included in this update, that's covered elsewhere. Unfortunately, I find often that when I get this post out on the day that the update comes out--and I wait until I can at least see the release notes above, to point to and assess that day--the details about the SECURITY changes seem delayed for some hours. But they WILL come, and perhaps will be there by the time you click the links I share next.

First, see the single document listing Java security fixes in this most recent update. That should take you to a section labelled "Oracle Java SE Risk Matrix", which is not yet there as I post this entry, but should be soon. (If you see instead, "Oracle Java SE Executive Summary", that seems to be a placeholder they put there until replacing it with the "risk matrix" that we should see, with more detail--at the same link.)

Second, see the Text Form of Risk Matrix for Oracle Java SE--but as I write the page gets a "we found a phone" 404 error. Both problems should be resolved by later today, from past experience.

As for that first link, when you finally can see it pay close attention to "notes" column offered there on the right for each vulnerability, as that may temper the severity. (Note as well that while both these documents cover ALL Oracle products, I have offered above links to the Java-specific sections of the pages. Focus on references to "Java SE" rather than any specific to GraalVM, which is not the focus of the discussion in this post.)

Watch also that many times the listed issues indicate that a vulnerability may be "difficult to exploit" and that many "[do] not apply to Java deployments, typically in servers, that load and run only trusted code (e.g., code installed by an administrator)", which may reduce the concern for you about them depending on your perspective.

That said, these documents could also change between now and when you see this post, so it's your responsibility to assess that information carefully. And regardless of whether such vulnerabilities may seem to apply to you, generally folks should seek to keep their JVM updated, or at least avoid falling too far behind.

Obtaining the JVM update, from Oracle

As for obtaining downloads of Java updates, you can find all the current versions on this one page. Note that recent Java versions are offered in tabs at the top of the page, while the older LTS versions are offered in tabs further down the page, as I indicate below.

Note that there are also then tabs for the installers of a given update as provided for each supported OS (Linux, macOS, and Windows), and then also both installer binaries and "compressed archives"/zip/tar.gz files.

(Also, to users of Adobe ColdFusion--my primary audience--note that Adobe provides their own downloads page for Oracle Java installer binaries and zips. More on that below, after this next section.)

Oracle downloads for Java 26, 25, and 21

The top of that Oracle downloads page offers the LATEST Java versions, 26, 25, and 21:

• Java 26 downloads
• Java 25 downloads (offered as a tab to the right of the one for 26)
• Java 21 downloads (offered to the right of 21)
• See my next section here about Java 8, 11, and 17

Note that those updates for Java 21 and above do NOT require a login on the Oracle site. Java 21 updates will get updates until Sept 2026--a year after Java 25 was released, and Java 25 will get them until Sep 2028, a year after the next LTS is expected to be released. (Java licensing matters are beyond the scope of this post to discuss, but see links offered there for more.)

Oracle downloads for Java 17, 11, and 8

As for the remaining versions and their downloads, they are offered further down the that Oracle downloads page (or via links I offer next). Note that to download those files you WILL be prompted for an Oracle sign in, as they are offered under a different license (also discussed there), but note that an account is free if you don't yet have one.

Here are direct links to the section at the bottom for that downloads page for the remaining Java versions:

• Java 17 downloads (offered in a new set of tabs at the bottom of this page, which is easy to miss)
• Java 11 downloads (offered as a tab to the right of that for 17)
• Java 8 downloads (offered to the right of 11)

Obtaining the JVM update, from Adobe

As my blog and work is mostly focused on those using Adobe ColdFusion (as well as Lucee and BoxLang, and all 3 run atop Java), I'll clarify especially for CF users that Adobe offers the Oracle Java downloads, such that one need not log into the Oracle site as discussed in the previous section.

See the CF Downloads page, and its last section offering Java installers ("Java versions supported in ColdFusion"), which includes the installers or zip/archive options, for each of Windows, Linux, and MacOS.

As of my posting this today, the Adobe downloads page for CF-related installers does not yet have the downloads for this latest update. Sometime that can take even days. Watch that space for changes over time, or use the Oracle downloads approach I offer above.

(Note that until May of 2026, that page had a drop-down you had to use to see its different sections, including one for "java installers". For now, all the different kinds of installers are visible without need to use that drop-down.)

Finally, note that Adobe tends to offer the 3 most recent updates for the Java versions that are supported for each current CF version (so the 3 most recent Java 21 updates for use with CF2025, the 3 most recent Java 17 updates for ues with CF2023, and older java for older software whose downloads they may still offer on that page.)

Three technicalities to be aware of, about use of Oracle Java with ColdFusion

While I am speaking to the CF audience here, let me offer 3 points to consider about Oracle licensing matters.

• As for choosing between these two options of where to obtain these downloads (and given how there can sometimes be a delay in the latest appearing at Adobe), some people assert that CF folks "must use those from the CF downloads page" and not the Oracle one. But I'll note that every time I've done a binary compare of the installers files (of some given version and OS, on the day it came out and Adobe offered it), the ones Adobe offers have been identical to those offered on the Oracle site (at least for the identical build number, which may change slightly over time on the Oracle site though not the Adobe site). As this installer includes the Java license, I can't see how anyone could assert that it matters WHERE you get an identical installer. But IANAL. The choice is yours, if you want the update ASAP and Adobe doesn't offer it yet.
• While some may be tempted to go get some other JVM/JDK, like an openjdk, note that Adobe has always formally supported only the use of Oracle Java with CF, not other OpenJDK implementations. I'm not saying it WON'T work. But be aware of this point--and please consider pointing out when you may be using some non-Oracle JVM when reporting issue with CF.
• Finally, note also that Adobe licenses Oracle Java for our use of it with CF--but CF only. More on that in the resource discussed next.

Other topics you may be interested to know, and where I discuss them

Some readers may find the above so far to have been "a lot to consider" already, but there is indeed far more that you could and should consider before applying a Java update. And for a few years, I would cover such additional topics within this sort of blog post, each time I announced the new JVM update. But I've decided recently to split that off into its own blog entry, and I will point to that instead in each of these such JVM update announcement posts, in order to keep this relatively "brief". (I've kept some of the other points above because they affect OBTAINING the download.)

In that other post, I address such issues as:

• Obtaining and learning still more about available JVM updates
• What about other JVM distributions besides Oracle?
• News for my CF audience: Oracle licensing, obtaining updates from Adobe, and more
• Should you apply the update? how soon?

Then I cover a few things that you should be aware of if skipping over previous JVM updates (Sometimes people are literally a couple to a few years behind):

• Beware a change in the July 2023 JVM update, regarding Zip64ExtraFieldValidation
• Beware a change in the January 2023 JVM update, regarding a change in how the JDK installer works
• Beware a change in the October 2022 JVM update, regarding Java no longer trusting jars signed with SHA-1
• Beware a change in the April 2021 JVM update, regarding calls out to anything running TLS 1.1 or earlier

Again, that other post of mine with more info is here: Several things to consider when applying JVM updates.

Wrapping up, getting more help

I hope all that may be helpful for you.

Feel free to ask questions or raise comments below, or for direct help note that I offer remote screenshare consulting help, where I am usually able to quickly fix problems (that might take me only minutes to resolve, but might take many folks hours on their own--if they don't deal with these issues daily like I do in helping people).

For more content like this from Charlie Arehart:

• Signup to get his blog posts by email:
• Follow his blog RSS feed
• View the rest of his blog posts
• View his blog posts on the Adobe CF portal

Need more help with problems?

• If you may prefer direct help, rather than digging around here/elsewhere or via comments, he can help via his online consulting services
• See that page for more on how he can help a) over the web, safely and securely, b) usually very quickly, c) teaching you along the way, and d) with satisfaction guaranteed