FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.7.0"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b147)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 21.0-b17, mixed mode)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

EXTRA RELEVANT SYSTEM CONFIGURATION :
Default installation. No modifications.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Java 7 fails to connect to a website with GeoTrust wildcard certificate.
The same certificate is accepted by Java 5 and 6 and also by all the browsers I tested.
A sample site which can be tested: https://yossis.artifactoryonline.com
The certificate Common Name (CN) is: *.artifactoryonline.com

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
The simplest way to reproduce is to attempt a connection with java.net.URL.


ERROR MESSAGES/STACK TRACES THAT OCCUR :
Exception in thread "main" javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.fatalSE(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.fatalSE(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.serverCertificate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.processMessage(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.processLoop(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.process_record(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.connect(Unknown Source)
        at com.yossis.net.connect.main(connect.java:20)
Caused by: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.doBuild(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.engineValidate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.validator.Validator.validate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.validate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrusted(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(Unknown Source)
        ... 12 more
Caused by: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilder.engineBuild(Unknown Source)
        at java.security.cert.CertPathBuilder.build(Unknown Source)
        ... 18 more

D:\Work\Josh\connect\target>java.exe -jar connect.jar https://yossis.artifactoryonline.com
Exception in thread "main" javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.fatalSE(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.fatalSE(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.serverCertificate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.processMessage(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.processLoop(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.process_record(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(Unknown Source)
        at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.connect(Unknown Source)
        at com.yossis.net.connect.main(connect.java:20)
Caused by: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.doBuild(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.engineValidate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.validator.Validator.validate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.validate(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrusted(Unknown Source)
        at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(Unknown Source)
        ... 12 more
Caused by: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
        at sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilder.engineBuild(Unknown Source)
        at java.security.cert.CertPathBuilder.build(Unknown Source)
        ... 18 more


REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import java.io.IOException;
import java.net.URL;

public class connect {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        new URL("https://yossis.artifactoryonline.com").openConnection().connect();
    }
}

---------- END SOURCE ----------