The newest Firefox is version 40, and as usual there was no proper announcement. There’s a post on the Mozilla blog that gets into the details of version 40’s security improvements, but it never mentions the version. The release notes provide additional details. Here are some of the more notable changes:
- Improvements to Windows 10 support, including workarounds for the way Microsoft messes up default browser settings
- Add-on certification: non-certified add-ons will be disabled by default
- Improvements to visual style: for example, the ‘close’ button on tabs is now larger
- Expanded malware protection, which warns users about to visit sites that are flagged by Google’s Safe Browsing Service
- Smoother animation and scrolling for Windows
- Improvements to JPEG image handling
- At least fourteen security fixes
Ah, Patch Tuesday. Of all the tasks we have to perform, there’s nothing quite like it: it’s both tedious and critically important. I’m starting to consider enabling automatic updates, but given Murphy’s Law, no doubt the moment I do that, Microsoft will issue a catastrophic update.
This month we have fourteen updates from Microsoft, affecting the usual culprits (Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Silverlight, .NET), plus a few new ones: Lync and Edge, the new web browser in Windows 10. Four of the updates are flagged as critical. The updates address a total of 58 vulnerabilities. The update for Silverlight brings its version to 5.1.40728.0. Several of the updates apply to Windows 10. One of the updates addresses a nasty bug that could allow an attacker to execute malicious code from a USB thumb drive.
Adobe is once again tagging along this month, releasing a new version of Flash (18.0.0.232) that addresses a whopping thirty-four vulnerabilities. Needless to say, you should install the new version as soon as possible if you still use Flash in any web browser. Internet Explorer 10 and 11 in Windows 8.x will receive the Flash update via Windows Update, as will the new Edge browser in Windows 10. Chrome will update itself to use the new version.
Rants and musings on topics of interest. Sometimes about Windows, Linux, security and cool software.
boot13