FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.7.0_04"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_04-b20)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 23.0-b21, mixed mode, sharing)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

EXTRA RELEVANT SYSTEM CONFIGURATION :
My Tests only work in Firefox (behavior is seen in all versions)

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
I ran into an issue with the javascript property `window.opener` (which keeps a reference to the window that opened the popup) in conjunction with a redirect from within an applet. Whenever a redirect happens from within the applet, `window.opener` was changed to the current pop-up. Even stranger is the fact that this change was introduced with a recent java update quite recently: this did not happen with `java 1.7.0_03-b05` but started happening with `java 1.7.0_04-b20`. Now this might be some exotic usecase but still, I'm wondering if this change was intentional.

  To get to the bottom of this I have written a small test to demonstrate the behavior in question. The HTML-Sites can be found here: http://files.newsnetz.ch/applet_test



REGRESSION. Last worked in version 7

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
0. Install java 1.7.0_04-b20
1. Open HTML at: http://files.newsnetz.ch/applet_test
2. Click Link 'open applet.html in new window'
3. In the popup-window within the applet, click Button 'Redirect now!'

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
1. After clicking the link in `index.html`, `applet.html` is opened in a popup window. The alert shows `index.html` as being the openers name. Then the backgroundcolor of the opener is changed to red
  2. After clicking the button in the applet `redirect.html` is opened in the same window. The alert shows `index.html`as being the openers name. Then the backgroundcolor of the opener is changed to green
ACTUAL -
1. After clicking the link in `index.html`, `applet.html` is opened in a popup window. The alert shows `index.html` as being the openers name. Then the backgroundcolor of the opener is changed to red
  2. After clicking the button in the applet `redirect.html` is opened in the same window. The alert shows 'redirect.html` as being the openersname. Then the backgroundcolor of the opener (which is the popup-window now!) is changed to green.

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
Here's the code of the applet used for the redirect:



import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.Button;
import java.awt.FlowLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;

public class HelloWorldApplet extends Applet implements ActionListener {

    Button redirectButton;
    
    @Override
    public void init() {
        super.init();
        
        setLayout(new FlowLayout());
        redirectButton = new Button("Redirect now!");
        add(redirectButton);
        
        redirectButton.addActionListener(this);
    }

    @Override
    public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae) {
        try {
            this.getAppletContext().showDocument(new URL(this.getDocumentBase(), "redirect.html"), "_self");
        } catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
            Logger.getLogger(HelloWorldApplet.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
        }
    }
}

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