Microsoft to patch 17-year old bug on Tuesday

Posted on Friday, February 05 2010 @ 21:06 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck

Next week's Patch Tuesday from Microsoft will include 13 security updates that address 26 vulnerabilities in Windows and Office. Five updates are rated "critical", seven are "important", and the last one is marked as "moderate".

One of the updates is a fix for a 13-year old bug that first appeared in Windows NT 3.1, it was discovered last month by a Google security researcher:

The ancient bug was discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy in January 2010 and involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run programs that date from the DOS era.

Mr Ormandy has found a way to exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7.

More info at BBC News.

About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.

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