This doesn’t happen very often so when it does I like to help spread the word. Microsoft released a “critical” update today impacting all supported OS’s from Windows 2000 through the Windows 7 pre-beta.
If you’re a Windows user or manage Windows machines, it seems like you should plan on getting this one and rebooting some rigs. I know I’ll be rebooting a bunch of servers later tonight.
This is noteworthy as the update was pushed today instead of waiting for next month’s “Patch Tuesday.” Therefore, clearly the folks at Microsoft are nervous.
I don’t have any detail on what the vulnerability actually is beyond what is mentioned in Security Bulletin MS08-067:
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Server service. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an affected system received a specially crafted RPC request. On Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability without authentication to run arbitrary code. It is possible that this vulnerability could be used in the crafting of a wormable exploit. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect network resources from attacks that originate outside the enterprise perimeter.
The pushes started at 10AM this morning.
You can learn more at this Microsoft Security blog entry.
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October 23rd, 2008 
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