April Patch Tuesday brings more critical Windows updates

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:42

Business IT - Security

Microsoft's latest collection of security patches includes fixes for critical issues on all versions of Windows.

This month's security updates for Windows includes two patches that are regarded as critical on all currently supported versions of Windows.

Top of the list is a fix for the SMB remote-code vulnerability disclosed last November.

The other critical update affecting all versions are for a pair of privately-reported vulnerabilities in Authenticode Verification. In addition to the the Authenticode fix, the Cabinet File Viewer Shell Extension has also been patched to protect against the vulnerabilities.

Other critical bulletins affecting certain versions of Windows cover the MPEG Layer-3 codec (Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008), Windows Media Services (on Windows 2000 only), and Windows Media Player (Windows 2000, XP).

There are also three bulletins with a maximum rating of important. One covers multiple vulnerabilities in Windows (Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista; moderate on Vista SP1/SP2, Server 2008 and Windows 7).

Since this update alters the Windows kernel, Microsoft has included detection logic for unusual conditions or modifications in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the problems that occurred in March when a kernel update caused major problems on systems that had already been infected with the Alureon rootkit.

What else has been patched? Find out on page 2.