Hi everyone,
I’m currently working with Java Stored Procedures inside the Oracle Database (JVM) and ran into some security-related challenges that I believe are worth discussing with the community.
Specifically, when invoking Java classes from PL/SQL, I encountered issues related to **java.security.AccessControlException**, especially when the Java code attempts to:
- Access external resources (files, network, environment variables)
- Use reflection or load classes dynamically
- Perform cryptographic operations or call restricted APIs
Even though the Java code works perfectly outside the database, running it inside Oracle’s JVM introduces an additional security sandbox, which requires explicit permissions.
From what I’ve learned so far:
- Oracle enforces a very strict security manager for Java stored procedures
- Required permissions must be explicitly granted using
DBMS_JAVA.GRANT_PERMISSION
- Missing or overly broad permissions can either break execution or introduce security risks
Example of a permission grant:
BEGIN DBMS_JAVA.GRANT_PERMISSION( grantee => 'MY_SCHEMA', permission_type => 'java.io.FilePermission', permission_name => '/tmp/*', permission_action=> 'read,write' ); END; /
My questions to the community:
- What are your best practices for managing Java permissions inside Oracle?
- How do you balance security vs. maintainability when granting permissions?
- Do you recommend using Java Stored Procedures today, or migrating this logic to external services (e.g., microservices)?
I’d really appreciate insights from anyone with real-world experience using Java inside the Oracle Database.
Thanks in advance!