Newsletter Archives

• Patch Lady post – if you’ve patched…

  Posted on July 13, 2018 at 20:08 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  Susan here, Friday night in the USA, Saturday for those of you on the other side of the globe.  If you have patched your machines and see no issues, keep them as they are.  Don’t pull back updates if your machines have gotten through July patching okay.

  If you have NOT updated, this would be a really good time to make sure you know exactly how to pause updates.  I still don’t have a good root cause of what is causing the blue screens of death on some machines.  I have some unconfirmed reports that it may be intrusion monitoring software but it’s too early to tell for sure.  All I can tell you is that every Windows patch has a possible known issue posted.

  That isn’t to say that everyone will hit this – for example on the three computers I’ve updated at home, I’m not seeing this bsod.  So it’s not 100% guaranteed that you’ll hit this.  That said, lets not see if we do.

  So turn off your computer and read a book, pause updates in Windows 10, trick the system with the metered trick, etc etc… you get the idea that this is not the weekend to be deploying updates.

  After installing this update, some devices running network monitoring workloads may receive the 0xD1 Stop error because of a race condition

  Currently, there is no workaround for this issue. Microsoft is working on a resolution and estimates a solution will be available mid-July.

  Windows Patches/Security Patch Lady Posts

• Microsoft yanks buggy Office 2016 patch KB 4018385, re-publishes all of this month’s patches

  Posted on July 13, 2018 at 08:31 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  We’re just scraping the surface of this month’s bugs.

  Computerworld Woody on Windows.

  Thanks, Crysta! Come back to us….
  

  Office Patches/Security, Windows Patches/Security KB 4018385

• New version of Chrome guards against Spectre-like attacks, but eats more memory

  Posted on July 13, 2018 at 06:02 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  We still haven’t seen a commercial implementation of the Meltdown or Spectre security vectors, but Google’s had this “site isolation” technology in the works for six years. This week, they flipped the switch. Now, your copy of Chrome on Windows will gobble even more memory. But you’ll be protected from Spectre attacks coming from the most likely source — your browser.

  Gregg Keizer in Computerworld:

  Google has switched on Site Isolation for the vast majority of Chrome users – 99% of them by the search giant’s account.

  Good article. Check it out.

  Nipping Spectre in the browser sure beats the all-on assault that’s unfolding in the rest of the ecosystem. I continue to maintain that the first major Meltdown and Spectre infections we’ll see in the wild will come through the browser.

  Windows Patches/Security Chrome, Site isolation, Spectre

• Enormous number of Microsoft Catalog entries are dated July 13 — tomorrow!

  Posted on July 12, 2018 at 22:17 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Quick. While it’s still July 12.

  Take a look at the Microsoft Catalog and see how many entries have a “Last Update” entry of July 13.

  I count 104 of them. And the rest (25 entries) have been re-dated July 12.

  Patches you can trust….

  Windows Patches/Security

• 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

• What, exactly, does the switch in Win10 1803 from “Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted)” to “Semi-Annual Channel NOT (Targeted)” really mean?

  Posted on July 11, 2018 at 10:13 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’m struggling with this one. I see how the Windows 10 Release Information page has been changed, dropping the old footnote about “reflect existing deferral policies” (which I never understood in the first place).

  Now that it’s “Semi-Annual Channel NOT (Targeted),” what does that mean? Really.

  Susan Bradley tackled the topic last week. I don’t see any definitive conclusions — or even a hint as to what yesterday’s change really means.

  Hold the hand waving. I want to know what the typical Win10 user or admin will see.

  Here’s what I have so far:

  Win10 April 2018 update — good ol’ version 1803 — now appears in the Windows 10 release information list as “Semi-Annual Channel.” What’s more the bizarre blurb that appeared as a footnote in that post on Tuesday morning is now gone:

  (1) Windows 10, version 1803 designation has been updated to reflect the servicing option available in the operating system and to reflect existing deferral policies. We recommend organizations broadly deploy the latest version of Windows 10 when they are ready, and not wait until the “Targeted” designation has been removed.

  … surely one of the worst cases of Microsoft bafflegab ever.

  On June 14, Microsoft declared:

  Based on the update quality and reliability we are seeing through our AI approach, we are now expanding the release broadly to make the April 2018 Update (version 1803) fully available for all compatible devices running Windows 10 worldwide. Full availability is the final phase of our rollout process.

  Now, it seems, version 1803 has been kicked up from “(Targeted)” to, uh, Not (Targeted) — without fanfare, and with no explanation. How Not (Targeted) differs from “fully available” remains a mystery.

  It appears as if this change in the footnote is a warning that version 1803 is headed out to 1703 or 1709 machines that are set to defer upgrades awaiting “Current Branch for Business” (1703) or “Semi-Annual Channel” (1709) and with the feature update deferral set to 0.

  Windows Patches/Security 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
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