Patch Tuesday: Tracking a Windows 10/USB-C Connections Issue

Patch Tuesday: Tracking a Windows 10/USB-C Connections Issue

Adobe released an update to flash that appears to be bug fixes. The update in the form of an October update. This monthly update addresses functionality bugs but does not fix any security issues.
Adobe released an update to flash that appears to be bug fixes. The update in the form of an October update. This monthly update addresses functionality bugs but does not fix any security issues.

It appears at this time that because this is merely a bug functionality fix, that it won’t make it into this month’s Windows 10 release. However you may see the update released for Windows 7 as a standalone update.

What to do: Check your Flash and expect an update for Windows 7 machines.

Office Click-To-Run Side Effects

The October click-to-run release is causing a side effect with some add-ins. Outlook 2016 on Windows 10 version 8431.2107 removed the Home page from Folder Properties. Prior to version  2107, if you right-clicked a folder under Inbox in Outlook and chose properties, there was a tab for “Home Page” and you could display an HTML file instead of an Outlook folder’s contents. Some add-ins need an HTML home page there;  if it’s not there, the buttons on Outlook won’t work. Folks are starting to report this issue and have identified two workarounds:

If you have Outlook 2013
To bring back the home tab, add a registry key by clicking on the Search box in Windows 10 or the Run box in Windows 7 and type in regedit. Click yes on the User account control.

Find the HKEY_Current_User, and drill down until you find the Outlook security section.

If you don’t have the folder for Outlook, right-click, then select New Key. Add the Outlook key. Right mouse click on the Outlook folder and click New Key and add the Security key.

Next, in the right-hand side of the regedit screen, right-click and select New, DWORD 32bit and type in the name box EnableRoamingFolderHomepages.

In the data box enter in a value of 1, then enter the following key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftOffice15.0OutlookSecurity] “EnableRoamingFolderHomepages”=dword:00000001

If you have Outlook 2016

Follow the directions above, only use this key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookSecurity] “EnableRoamingFolderHomepages”=dword:00000001

The Office team is working on official documentation to detail what they broke. Alternatively, you can roll back this release to the prior version.

What to do: If you are impacted, consider the registry workaround or rolling back.

Windows 10 Releases

You may have seen some news reports about BSODs on Windows 10 machines. However, I don’t think Windows secrets readers should see this. Patch administrators using WSUS or SCCM are most likely to be impacted. Here’s what happened: Microsoft accidentally placed a “Delta” update up on WSUS servers on Tuesday and if you deployed BOTH the Delta update and the normal cummulative update at the same time you will end up with a blue screen of death as some customers noted in the forum.

Bottom line, Delta updates don’t get released to the Microsoft update channel and should not have been pushed to the WSUS channel. There are several ways to recover as documented if you were impacted. But bottom line the issue is NOT with the update, the issue is with the fact that TWO updates were deployed at the same time.

Tuesday’s security updates include the following:

• KB4041676 for Windows 10 1703
• KB4041691 for Windows 10 1607
• KB4041689 for Windows 10 1511
• KB4042895 for Windows 10 RTM

At this time the RTM release of Windows 10 is no longer supported unless you are running the Long Term servicing platform, and the 1511 version just came to it’s final series of patching with this release. If you are still running either of those platforms you need to be on 1607 or 1703.

1703 has a side effect for those with USB-C connections:

Systems with support enabled for USB Type-C Connector System Software Interface (UCSI) may experience a blue screen or stop responding with a black screen when a system shutdown is initiated. Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

For several months now, it also has a problem where installing KB4034674 may change Czech and Arabic languages to English for Microsoft Edge and other applications.

The 1703 release includes quite a few fixes including:

• Addressed issue where some UWP and Centennial apps show a gray icon and display the error message “This app can’t open” on launch.
• Addressed reliability issue that causes the AppReadiness service to stop working.
• Addressed issue where applications that use the Silverlight map stack stop working.
• Addressed issue where VSync prevents devices from entering Panel Self Refresh mode, which can lead to reduced battery life.
• Addressed issue where user customizations (like pinned tiles) made to an enforced partial Start layout are lost when upgrading to Windows 10 1703.
• Addressed issue where the Universal CRT caused the linker (link.exe) to stop working for large projects.
• Addressed issue that prevents Windows Error Reporting from saving error reports in a temporary folder that is recreated with incorrect permissions. Instead, the temporary folder is inadvertently deleted.
• Addressed issue where the MSMQ performance counter (MSMQ Queue) may not populate queue instances when the server hosts a clustered MSMQ role.
• Addressed issue with the token broker where it was leaking a token that caused sessions to remain allocated after logoff.
• Addressed issue where Personal Identity Verification (PIV) smart card PINs are not cached on a per-application basis. This caused users to see the PIN prompt multiple times in a short time period; normally, the PIN prompt only displays once.
• Addressed issue where using the Cipher.exe /u tool to update Data Recovery Agent (DRA) encryption keys fails unless user certification encryption already exists on the machine.
• Addressed issue where using AppLocker to block a Modern app fails. This issue occurs only with Modern apps that come pre-installed with Windows.
• Addressed issue with form submissions in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue with the rendering of a graphics element in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue that prevents an element from receiving focus in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue with the docking and undocking of Internet Explorer windows.
• Addressed issue caused by a pop-up window in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue where a Vendor API deleted data unexpectedly.
• Addressed issue where using the Robocopy utility to copy a SharePoint document library, which is mounted as a drive letter, fails to copy files. However, in this scenario, Robocopy will copy folders successfully.
• Addressed issue where MDM USB restrictions did not disable the USB port as expected.
• Addressed issue where creating an iSCSI session on a new OS installation may result in the “Initiator instance does not exist” error when attempting to connect to a target.
• Addressed issue where connecting to RDS applications published using Azure App Proxy fails. The error message is, “Your computer can’t connect to the Remote Desktop Gateway server. Contact your network administrator for assistance”. The error can occur when the RDP cookie size limit is exceeded. This update increased the size of the RDP cookie limit.
• Addressed issue where USBHUB.SYS randomly causes memory corruption that results in random system crashes that are extremely difficult to diagnose.
• Addressed issue that affects the download of some games from the Windows Store during the pre-order phase. Download fails with the error code 0x80070005, and the device attempts to restart the download from the beginning.
• Addressed issue where the ServerSecurityDescriptor registry value does not migrate when you upgrade to Windows 10 1703. As a result, users might not be able to add a printer using the Citrix Print Manager service. Additionally, they might not be able to print to a client redirected printer, a Citrix universal print driver, or a network printer driver using the Citrix universal print driver

These updates are fixing security issues in Microsoft Windows Search Component, Windows kernel-mode drivers, Microsoft Graphics Component, Internet Explorer, Windows kernel, Microsoft Edge, Windows Authentication, Windows TPM, Device Guard, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Microsoft Windows DNS, Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Server, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Microsoft JET Database Engine, and the Windows SMB Server.

At this time the USB-C issue is the most disturbing side effect.

What to do: Install these updates at this time if you do not have USB-C connections.

Windows 7 Updates

The Windows 7 updates released this month in the form of KB4041681 include security updates for Microsoft Windows Search Component, Windows kernel-mode drivers, Microsoft Graphics Component, Internet Explorer, Windows kernel, Windows Wireless Networking, Microsoft JET Database Engine, and the Windows SMB Server. Non security updates released with this update include the following:

• Addressed issue with docking and undocking Internet Explorer windows.
• Addressed issue with form submissions in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue with URL encoding in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue that prevents an element from receiving focus in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue with the rendering of a graphics element in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue where USBHUB.SYS randomly causes memory corruption that results in random system crashes that are extremely difficult to diagnose.

The major change in this release is that after installing KB4041681, package users may see an error dialog that indicates that an application exception has occurred when closing some applications. This can affect applications that use mshtml.dll to load web content. The failure only occurs when a process is already shutting down and will not impact application functionality.

What to do: Install these updates at this time.

Windows 8.1 Updates

Windows 8.1 has the same side effect of Windows 7: Package users may receive an error message that states that an application exception has occurred when some applications are closed. This can affect applications that use mshtml.dll to load web content. This problem occurs only when a process is already shutting down. It does not affect application functionality. Microsoft has indicated that they plan to fix this in an upcoming patch. It also included security updates for Microsoft Windows Search Component, Windows kernel-mode drivers, Microsoft Graphics Component, Internet Explorer, Windows kernel, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Microsoft Windows DNS, Windows Server, Microsoft JET Database Engine, and the Windows SMB Server in the form of KB4041693.

In addition the following non-security fixes were included:

• Addressed issue with docking and undocking Internet Explorer windows.
• Addressed issue with form submissions in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue where Internet Explorer stops responding to a navigation request.
• Addressed issue that occurs in the WebView Control of Internet Explorer in certain scenarios.
• Addressed issue with URL encoding in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue that prevents an element from receiving focus in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue caused by a pop-up window in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue with the rendering of a graphics element in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue in Internet Explorer caused by a redirection link.
• Addressed issue where messages that should be in a non-English language display in English in Internet Explorer.
• Addressed issue where USBHUB.SYS randomly causes memory corruption that results in random system crashes that are extremely difficult to diagnose.

What to do: Install these updates at this time.

Office Update Releases

For those of you on Office click to run versions, you should expect to be upgraded to the latest version in the background. If however, you have the old fashioned MSI – or patch based Office deployments expect to see the following updates:

Office 2016

• KB4011185 Fixing remote code execution
• KB2920723 Fixing remote code execution.
• KB4011162 Fixing remote code execution in Outlook.
• KB4011159 Fixing remote code execution
• KB4011222 Fixing remote code execution in Word.

Office 2013

• KB3172524 Security fixes for Office 2013
• KB3172531 Security fixes for Office 2013
• KB4011178 Security fixes for Office 2013
• KB4011179 Security fixes for Lync 2013
• KB4011232 Security fixes for Word 2013.

Office 2010

• KB2553338 Security fixes for Office 2010
• KB2837599 Security fixes for Office 2010
• KB3213627 Security fixes for Office 2010
• KB4011196 Security fixes for Office 2010
• KB3213630Security fixes for Word 2010

Office 2007

• KB3213647 Security fixes for Office compatability pack 2007
• KB4011065 Security fixes for Word 2007
• KB4011236 Security fixes for Word 2007

Server admins

Look out for the following updates:

• KB3213659 Security patch for Office Online Server 2016
• KB4011217 Security patch for SharePoint Server 2016
• KB4011161 Security Patch for SharePoint Server 2016
• KB4011231 Security patch for Office Web App server 2013
• KB4011182 Security patch for Project Server 2013
• KB4011175 Security patch for Project Server 2013
• KB4011177 Security update for SharePoint Enterprise Server 2013
• KB4011170 Security patch for SharePoint Server 2013
• KB4011180 Security patch for SharePoint Server 2013
• KB4011183 Security patch for SharePoint Foundation 2013
• KB4011173 Security patch for SharePoint Foundation Server 2013
• KB4011133 Security patch for Word Automation Server 2013
• KB4011192 Security update for Project Server 2010
• KB4011095 Security update for SharePoint Server 2010
• KB4011194 Security update for Office web apps 2010
• KB3213623 Security patch for Word Automation Services Server 2010

What to do: Due to the number of remote code execution bugs in these, I’ll recommend you install these updates as soon as possible.

Holding off on the Rest of Office Updates

Hold off as usual for the following non security updates that were released earlier this month. These include:

Office 2013

• October 3, 2017 update for Access 2013 KB3172543 This update improves the translation of the Allow Full Menus option for the Danish version of Access 2013.
• October 3, 2017, update for Excel 2013 KB4011181 This update improves several translations for the Danish and German versions of Excel 2013
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2013 KB4011148 Fixes an issue that occurs when exporting a PDF file by using the Visio 2013 drawing control in an application, the PDF file is pixelated because it’s raster-based instead of vector-based. Any metafiles (.emf) in the original Visio content is rasterized instead of being emitted as vector instructions.
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2013 KB4011169 If the Disable hardware graphics acceleration option is checked, you experience rendering issues when you are running Microsoft Project 2013
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2013 KB4011156 Fixes for Project Server 2013 in Project Professional 2013.
• October 3, 2017 update for Office 2013 KB4011149 Visio crashes when you open a file that contains swim lanes
• October 3, 2017 update for Word 2013 KB4011150 Outlook 2013 crashes randomly when you print a file in Outlook 2013 by using certain third-party printers.

Office 2016

• October 3, 2017, update for Access 2016 KB4011142 This update improves the translation of Allow Full Menus option for the Danish version of Access 2016.
• October 3, 2017, update for Excel 2016 KB4011166 This update improves the system resource usage when you deal with Excel 2016 files that contain many formulas.
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011036 When you copy and paste a HTML URL that contains a number sign (#) to Skype for Business 2016, the link is broken, and the number sign is lost.
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011135 Multiple issues with Office 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011139 Fixes issues with Office 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011144 Fixing various issues with Office 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011158 Various issues with Office 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Office 2016 KB4011167 Various issues with Office 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for PowerPoint 2016 KB4011164 Various fixes for PowerPoint 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Project 2016 KB4011141 Various issues for Project 2016
• October 3, 2017, update for Visio 2016 KB4011136 When you change the style for a shape by using Visio Drawing Control in an application, the application may crash.
• October 3, 2017, update for Word 2016 KB4011140 Fixes an issue where the merged table cells are broken after you install August 8, 2017, update for Word 2016 (KB3213656) or the September 5, 2017, update for Word 2016 (KB4011039).

What to do: I recommend not installing these updates at this time.

In closing I hope that everyone impacted in Puerto Rico can get back on their feet as soon as possible.

Regularly Updated Problem-Patch Chart

This table provides the status of recent Windows and Microsoft application security updates. Patches listed below as safe to install will typically be removed from the table about a month after they appear. Status changes are highlighted in bold.

For Microsoft’s list of recently released patches, go to the MS Security TechCenter page.

Patch	Released	Description	Status
KB404168	10-10	Windows 7 rollup	Install*
KB4041693	10-10	Windows 8	Install
KB4041676 [1703]	10-10	Windows 10 1703	Install
KB4041691 [1607]	10-10	Windows 10 1607	Install

*Hold: Please note if you’ve installed these updates and are not seeing any side effects you can leave the updates installed. I’m only recommended holding off if you are severely impacted by these side effects.

Status recommendations: Skip — patch not needed; Hold — do not install until its problems are resolved; Wait — hold off temporarily while the patch is tested; Optional — not critical, use if wanted; Install — OK to apply.

Feedback welcome: Have a question or comment about this story? Post your thoughts, praise, or constructive criticisms in the WS Columns forum.

Format Your Microsoft Word Documents with Templates

You can quickly create entire documents using Word’s built-in templates.

Do you sometimes struggle to format your Word documents a certain way? Maybe you’re trying to create a resume or a report or a brochure but are having trouble with the design. Well, here comes Word to your rescue. The software offers one key feature that can help you in your goal, namely templates. Templates give your documents a certain look and layout right from the get-go. By using a preformatted template, all you need do is add your text. Let’s check out templates to see how they can enhance your documents.

I’m using Word 2016 as my test base, but the steps I cover in using templates also apply to the past few versions of Word.

The purpose of a template is to provide you with the necessary layout and design so you can more quickly and easily create a specific type of document. Word comes with several templates, including ones for resumes, cover letters, blog posts, reports, flyers, brochures, and thank-you cards. Each template contains certain design and layout elements already created. You can leave the existing elements in place or tweak them to your own preferences. You then just add your text and other content to the document. You can access templates one of two ways depending on how Word is configured. If Word is set to show the Start screen when it launches, the page of template thumbnail images automatically appears. If you set Word to bypass the Start screen, then click on the File menu and select New to view the list of templates.

You’ll find a few basic templates to get you started. But what if you don’t see the template you need? You can conjure up more from Microsoft’s online collection. Click on one of the categories at the top, such as Business, Industry, Personal, or Education. You can also hunt for a specific template by typing a key word or phrase in the field to “Search for online templates.” In return, the list refreshes based on your selection or search phrase. When you find a template you like, click on it to preview it and then click on the Create button to open it.

A typical template may contain tables or columns to organize your text, images to flavor your document, and placeholders for inserting your text. You can change the built-in layout elements. But the trick is to find a template that requires little or no modification so all you have to do is add your text. If you need to edit any existing elements, though, you can do that as you normally would in Word. I’ll explain how to do that, but for now let’s assume you want to keep all the design and layout elements just as they are.

If you’re fine with the layout of the template, your job now is to add the text. Click or double-click on each piece of placeholder text and type the replacement text. As you type, the placeholder text should disappear. After you’ve added your text, save the document, and you’re done.

Okay, now let’s say you want to change some of the design and layout elements in a template. In some cases, the task is relatively simple. For example, to replace an image, right-click on it and choose the command to Change image from the popup menu. To alter the properties of a table, right-click anywhere in the table and choose the appropriate table command from the menu.

However, you may bump into trouble trying to edit the placeholder text fields as they’re likely constrained by content controls, which restrict what you can do with the content. How can you tell if a placeholder field has a content control? Right-click on the placeholder. If you see a command to “Remove Content Control” in the popup menu, then that’s the tipoff.

The process for changing the text or other properties in such controls are involved, but here are the steps. You first need to enable the Developer toolbar. To do this, click on File, then click on Options, and then click on Customize Ribbon. From the “Customize the Ribbon and keyboard shortcuts” window, click on the checkmark for Developer in the right pane. Then click OK to close the Customize Ribbon window. You’ll now see a new tab for Developer. Click on that tab to display the Developer ribbon. Then click on the Design Mode icon on the Developer ribbon. Your document switches to design mode so you can now change any of the placeholder items that have content controls.

You can also modify the properties for a content control. To do this, click on a placeholder item and then click on Properties from the Developer ribbon. From the Properties window, you can change the title, tag, color, and other attributes for the item you selected. When done, click on the Design Mode button to switch back to normal view. Add your text and save your document.

There’s more you can do with templates. You can modify an existing template and then save it as a new template. To do this, open an existing template and alter the design elements, such as the images, tables, and placeholder text. Now when you want to save it, click on the File menu and then click on Save as. Name your template. In the Save field, change the format from Word document to Word template. Then click the Save button. By default, Word saves your template in your Documents folder in a subfolder called Custom Office Templates.

Another option is to create a template from scratch using tables, images, placeholder text, and other design elements. But you may find it easier to modify an existing template. Either way, if you want to use your new template to create a document, make sure you’re at the Startup page showing the built-in templates. Then click on the link for PERSONAL. Word then displays any templates stored in your Custom Office Templates folder.

Finally, you can share your customized templates with other people so they can use them to create their own documents. One way to do that is to save your template on OneDrive. From there, you can share the template with others by emailing them a link or generating a link that you can send to anyone.