Windows 7 gets its first patch

But not its last...

By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld (US)
Published: 10:03 GMT, 14 January 09

Microsoft has issued its first patch for the just-released Windows 7 beta, but it passed on plugging a hole in an important file-sharing protocol that it fixed in older versions of the operating system.

Earlier, Windows Update, Microsoft's primary update service, began delivering the first patch to Windows 7 since the company struggled to launch the public beta last Friday. The update fixes a flaw that shaves several seconds of audio from any MP3 file that's edited, including files modified automatically as users connect to the Internet.

"Without action on your part, all MP3 files that have large headers in your Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center libraries are likely to lose some audio," Microsoft said in the support document it published Saturday, several days after it first posted the fix to its MSND and TechNet subscription services.

Before Tuesday, users who wanted to apply the fix had to find it, download it manually and install it themselves.

Microsoft also recommended that users back up all MP3 files before doing an upgrade to Windows 7 from Windows Vista, and that they set all of them to "read-only" status by right-clicking each file in Windows Explorer and then clicking the General tab and selecting the "Read-only" box. Failing that, users should disable metadata automatic updates in Windows Media Player, Microsoft said.

At the same time, it quashed the MP3 bug, however, Microsoft ignored a vulnerability in the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol that affects every version of Windows, including Windows 7.

Microsoft explained why the flaw went unfixed. "We provide security updates for beta versions of Windows through Windows Update for Critical issues only," said Christopher Budd, a spokesman for the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), in a post to the group's blog Tuesday. "So the vulnerability will be addressed in the next public release for Windows 7."

Of the three bugs patched by the MS09-001 security update today, just one is pertinent to Windows 7, Budd added. That vulnerability, designated as CVE-2008-4114, is a denial-of-service bug rated "moderate," the second step in Microsoft's four-level scoring system.

The remaining two vulnerabilities - both labeled "critical" by Microsoft - affect Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003; one of them also affects Windows Vista and Server 2008.

Windows 7 beta, which was released Saturday, will be available for download through at least January 24.

What are your views on this subject? Use the form below to post a comment on this article up to 500 characters.

Characters remaining: 500

Related Security news

Hacker attacks on US military jump sharply in 2009

China source of most attacks, says report

21 November 2009

Microsoft denies building security 'backdoor' in Windows 7

Privacy organisations shouldn't read too much into NSA involvement it says

Pentagon expands exclusive deal with McAfee

Department of Defense uses McAfee products

Police arrest pair over global banking web scam

Man and woman arrested in Manchester for using notorious Zeus Trojan

Related Security reviews

Lumension application control review

Bit9 Parity Suite

BitDefender Total Security 2008

Email this article to a friend or colleague:

PLEASE NOTE: Your name is used only to let the recipient know who sent the story, and in case of transmission error. Both your name and the recipient's name and address will not be used for any other purpose.

Techworld White Papers

Database security: Preventing enterprise data leaks at the source

IDC discusses the growing internal threats to business information, the impact of government regulations on the protection of data, and how enterprises must adopt database security best practices...

Download Whitepaper

Service-oriented security

SOA has become an integral part of enterprise software by providing a framework to efficiently develop software as services that is easily sharable, reusable, and integrated. No where is the need more apparent than in the Identity Management space. Welcome to the age of Service-Oriented Security (SOS).

Download Whitepaper

Data protection prospective vendor checklist

Organisations need a way to map business needs against all these challenges in procuring a technical solution. To help, SANS has developed the following Prospective Vendor Checklist.

Download Whitepaper

Unlock the power of the mainframe

This whitepaper presents the notion of CICS as an integration hub based on a component-based, service-oriented architecture supporting Web services. Highlights will review the challenges and contrasted support for Web services natively in CICS.

Download Whitepaper

Techworld UK - Technology - Business

COLT White Paper

Are all VoIP services the same?

Questions to ask your service provider to ensure you get the VoIP service you need
With careful choice of partner, your business can have all the advantages of VoIP access - reduced costs, flexibility and simplicity - without the drawbacks.
This white paper is your guide to ensure you get right the VoIP service and details the pitfalls which businesses would do well to avoid.

Download white paper
BMC

Ride the express lane in the journey to speed ITIL adoption

Explore the challenges in making the journey to ITIL and the criteria for selecting consulting services
By following ITIL practices, your IT organisation will become more closely integrated with the business. We recommend making the journey to ITIL in a sequence of six incremental steps, the phases of which are driven through execution of a strategic transformational roadmap.

Download white paper

Webcast: IT Financial Management: Cost Optimisation for Efficiency and Agility.
On Demand Webcast
Join this webcast to learn about the techniques and technologies that can help you prove the value of IT to the business by understanding the true cost of today's IT services and those that will be necessary to deliver future success.

Register Today

Site Map

IDG Network

* *