msrc-blog

Today, we released Security Advisory 2974294 to inform global customers about an update for the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine. This update addresses a privately disclosed issue and fixes a vulnerability that could allow a denial of service if the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine scans a specially crafted file. Updates for the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine are sent through security advisories as there is typically no action required to install the update.

Today we published the June 2014 Security Bulletin webcast questions and answers page along with the webcast replay. We answered six questions on air, with the majority focusing on the updates for TCP and Internet Explorer. The transcript also includes a question we did not have time to answer on the air.

As security professionals, we are trained to think in worst-case scenarios. We run through the land of the theoretical, chasing “what if” scenarios as though they are lightning bugs to be gathered and stashed in a glass jar. Most of time, this type of thinking is absolutely the correct thing for security professionals to do.

Today we released seven security bulletins addressing 66 unique CVE’s. Two bulletins have a maximum severity rating of Critical while the other five have a maximum severity rating of Important. This table is designed to help you prioritize the deployment of updates appropriately for your environment. Bulletin Most likely attack vector Max Bulletin Severity Max XI Likely first 30 days impact Platform mitigations and key notes MS14-035 (Internet Explorer) Victim browses to a malicious webpage.

An Overview of KB2871997 An Overview of KB2871997 Microsoft recently released KB2871997 for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008R2, and Windows Server 2012. This blog will give an overview of the feature changes, their impact, and some important configuration changes that can be made in conjunction with the update to further improve system security.

Today we provide advance notification for the release of seven Bulletins, two rated Critical and five rated Important in severity. These Updates are for Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer. The Update for Internet Explorer addresses CVE-2014-1770, which we have not seen used in any active attacks. Also, in case you missed it, last month we released Security Advisory 2871997 to further enhance credentials management and protections on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012.

Microsoft is committed to promoting a safer, more trusted Internet and providing monthly security updates is one of the ways our customers keep their devices and connections to the Internet more secure. Packaging updates together into a monthly bulletin cycle stems from customer feedback and offers a predictable way to help protect them against newly discovered threats.

Today we published the May 2014 Security Bulletin Webcast Questions & Answers page. We answered 17 questions in total, with the majority focusing on the update for SharePoint (MS14-022), Group Policy (MS14-025) and Internet Explorer (MS14-029). Here is the video replay: We invite you to join us for the next scheduled webcast on Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at 11 a.

Today, we released an update to address a vulnerability in Group Policy Preferences (MS14-025). Group Policy Preferences was an addition made to Group Policy to extend its capabilities. Among other things, Group Policy Preferences allows an administrator to configure: Local administrator accounts (name of the account, account password, etc) Configure a service or scheduled task (allowed to specify alternate credentials to run as) Mount network drives when a user logs in (allowed to specify alternate credentials to connect with) Group Policy Preferences are distributed just like normal group policy: An XML file containing the settings is written to the SYSVOL share of the domain controllers, and computers periodically query the SYSVOL share (authenticating to it using their computer account) for updates to the group policy.

Today, we released eight security bulletins – two rated Critical and six rated Important – to address 13 Common Vulnerability & Exposures (CVEs) in .NET Framework, Office, SharePoint, Internet Explorer, and Windows. We encourage you to apply all of these updates, but for those who need to prioritize their deployment planning, we recommend focusing on MS14-024, MS14-025 and MS14-029.