Newsletter Archives

• What should you do with the July patches?

  Posted on August 15, 2018 at 14:10 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Good question from s:

  You moved to Defcon2 for August but we still don’t know what to do with the July patches. (Win 7) !!??

  Short answer: Nothing. Wait for MS-DEFCON 3 or 4.

  If you’re in Group B (Win7/8.1 Security only patches), you’ll have to manually install the July patches prior to installing the August patches. But for almost everybody, you don’t need to lift a finger.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday

• We continue at MS-DEFCON 1: Don’t install any of the July patches

  Posted on August 10, 2018 at 06:59 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  With August patches just around the corner, you’d be well advised to give up on the July patches. Yes, some folks dodged the (many!) bullets and managed to get some of the July patches installed without hosing their systems.

  But for almost everybody, in almost every situation, the risk of installing the July patches is far, far greater than the risk of skipping them.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 1

• Microsoft releases 11 new .NET patches – but none (yet) for Win10 1703, 1709 or 1803

  Posted on July 31, 2018 at 07:29 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Yesterday saw a massive attempt — the fifth try this month — to fix the July .NET security patches.

  Oddly, Microsoft fixed Win10 1607/Server 2016, but didn’t push out a fix for any other versions of Win10.

  So far I haven’t seen any bugs. Perhaps the beta testers aren’t done yet. Or maybe they’ve wised up.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday, NET

• Where we stand with the July 2018 Microsoft patches

  Posted on July 26, 2018 at 16:18 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Quite possibly the worst month this year for patches.

  And that’s saying something!

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday

• So many conflicting details in this month’s Windows patches

  Posted on July 25, 2018 at 13:06 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Wotta mess.

  Yesterday’s round of Windows patches — for all versions of Windows — have so many internal inconsistencies it’s hard to keep score. Somebody’s playing fast and loose with the docs.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday

• Yet another massive mess of Windows patches

  Posted on July 24, 2018 at 14:04 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Microsoft just released dozens of new patches — some dated July 23 in the Update Catalog, some dated July 24, some dated July 20.

  Wotta mess.

  All supported versions of Windows 10 got new patches, which are dated July 24 in the KB articles, but at this moment they’re still dated July 20 in the Update Catalog. Not clear if the patches in the Catalog are the same as the ones described in the KB articles.

  The Win10 patches still have the “known issue”:

  After you install any of the July 2018 .NET Framework Security Updates, a COM component fails to load because of “access denied,” “class not registered,” or “internal failure occurred for unknown reasons” errors. The most common failure signature is the following:

  Exception type: System.UnauthorizedAccessException

  Message: Access is denied. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070005 (E_ACCESSDENIED))

  Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

  Many of the patches are Intel microcode updates, likely for Spectre 2. The MS Support page dedicated to such fixes hasn’t been changed since July 19. All of those patches, as best I can tell, are manual-install only.

  The Monthly Rollup Previews for both Win7/Server 2008 R2 and Win8.1/Server 2012 R2 were re-issued today. I don’t see any documentation about the re-issue, anywhere.

  Only a fool would tread in these waters. DON’T PATCH.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday

• The July .NET patches are even worse than you think

  Posted on July 20, 2018 at 21:56 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Earlier today, Microsoft posted this advisory on the official MSDN .NET blog:

  The July 2018 Security and Quality Rollup updates for .NET Framework was released earlier this month. We have received multiple customer reports of applications that fail to start or don’t run correctly after installing the July 2018 update..  A COM component fails to load because of “access denied,” “class not registered,” or “internal failure occurred for unknown reasons” errors.

  We have stopped distributing the .NET Framework July 2018 updates on Windows Update and are actively working on fixing and re-shipping this month’s updates…

  Workaround

  Temporarily uninstall the July 2018 Security and Quality Rollup updates for .NET Framework to restore functionality until a new update has been released to correct this problem.

  It’s been a banner month for Microsoft patches

  Windows Patches/Security .NET patches, July 2018 Black Tuesday, NET

• July patches are all messed up — but a good hint appears in Japanese

  Posted on July 20, 2018 at 10:44 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ve given up on the July patches. Which is why we’re on MS-DEFCON 1.

  There’s a little bit of light, though — coming from a Japanese language explanation from a Microsoft employee.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday, MS-DEFCON 1

• Microsoft just released 27 new security patches

  Posted on July 16, 2018 at 17:35 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  The Update Catalog lists 27 patches that were released on July 16 – that’s today.

  Right now, we have 151 security patches available for this month. This morning, the number stood at 129. If I take off my shoes, I think that means five patches (net) were pulled and not replaced.

  All active versions of Windows – Win10 1803, 1709, 1703, Win7, Win8.1, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012 – have new updates.

  KB 4018385, the buggy Office 2016 patch, was pulled and hasn’t been replaced.

  This month’s patches have been an unmitigated mess. DON’T PATCH.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  And I just moved us to MS-DEFCON 1.

  Windows Patches/Security 0x80092004, 0xD1, July 2018 Black Tuesday, KB 4338818, KB 4340557, KB 4340558, KB 4345418, KB 4345419, KB 4345420, KB 4345421, KB 4345424, KB 4345459, Tcp port is already in use, W3SVC

• The Big Bug rollup: Many problems, few solutions, with bugs in the July Patch Tuesday crop

  Posted on July 12, 2018 at 07:46 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I can’t believe how many bugs we’re seeing in this month’s patches.

  Oh. Wait a sec. Yeah, I can believe it.

  If you’re applying Windows/Office updates as soon as they come out, you clearly don’t understand the situation.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Windows Patches/Security 0x80092004, delta update, July 2018 Black Tuesday, KB 2952664, KB 2976978, KB 4023057, KB 4132216, KB 4338419, KB 4338814, KB 4339420, KB 4340558, KB 4343669, Win10 1803

• July 2018 Security patches are out

  Posted on July 10, 2018 at 12:44 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Martin Brinkmann has a full list on ghacks.

  There are “critical” fixes for Edge (12 critical) and Internet Explorer (4 critical), but no “critical” fixes for any Windows version.

  SANS Internet Storm Center says there are no known exploits for any of the patches.

  Here’s the full list of downloads in the Microsoft Catalog. Odd that so many are dated July 9….

  Microsoft still hasn’t fixed the Win7 bug introduced in a security patch earlier this year:

  There is an issue with Windows and third-party software related to a missing file (oem<number>.inf). Because of this issue, after you apply this update, the network interface controller will stop working.

  We have re-re-re…-issues of KB 2952664 for Win7 and KB 2976978 for Win8.1. Those are the infamous snooping/telemetry “enhancing” patches that have been around for years.

  Security Updates for Office 2016, Office 2013, Office 2010, various Viewers and SharePoint Servers are available on the Office Update page.

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday

• MS-DEFCON 2: In anticipation of the July 2018 patches, make sure you have Automatic Update turned off

  Posted on July 9, 2018 at 16:10 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Watch out for reports that Win7 users are getting coerced into upgrading to Win10 (again). And also be aware that your Alienware machine is now considered fair game in the pushed 1803 upgrade arena.

  I’m moving to MS-DEFCON 2: Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don’t do it.

  Full article in Computerworld. Woody on Windows

  Windows Patches/Security July 2018 Black Tuesday