Category Archives: Internet Explorer

Adobe, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for June 2016

Leave a comment

It’s that time again, folks. This month Microsoft has sixteen updates, which address forty-four vulnerabilities in the usual culprits: Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, and Edge. Five of the updates are flagged as Critical.

Adobe issued an alert earlier today, saying that they have identified a vulnerability in Flash that is being actively exploited. There’s no update as yet, but they expect to have one ready by June 16. I imagine that Adobe was planning to release a Flash update today to coincide with Microsoft’s updates, but this new threat messed up their timing.

Adobe, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for May 2016

Leave a comment

This month, besides the usual pile ‘o patches from Microsoft, we have updates for Adobe Reader/Acrobat, but (big surprise) not for Flash.

There are sixteen Microsoft updates, addressing thirty-seven vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Edge, and .NET. There’s also Microsoft Security Advisory 3155527. At least one of the vulnerabilities (CVE-2016-0189) is being actively exploited. This flaw could allow an attacker to execute malicious code if an unpatched computer visits a malicious or compromised web site.

The Adobe Reader update addresses over ninety vulnerabilities, which must set some kind of record. And not the good kind. If you use Reader in any context, you should update it to address these critical security issues.

Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for April 2016

Leave a comment

Microsoft offers up thirteen patches this month, addressing thirty security issues in the usual culprits: Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, .NET, and Office. There are thirteen updates in all, six of them flagged as Critical.

The folks at SANS now provide useful summaries of Microsoft patch days, showing which vulnerabilities are addressed in each update, with multiple risk assessments.

Adobe, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Patches and updates, Security

Emergency update for Flash

Leave a comment

If you use a web browser with Flash enabled, you should stop what you’re doing and update Flash.

According to the associated Adobe security bulletin, Flash 21.0.0.182 fixes twenty-three security vulnerabilities, including one (CVE-2016-1010) that is being actively exploited on the web.

The release notes for Flash 21.0.0.182 provide additional details. The new version fixes several bugs that are unrelated to security, and adds some new features.

As usual, Chrome will update itself with the new version of Flash, and Internet Explorer and Edge on newer versions of Windows will be updated via Windows Update.

Adobe, Edge, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for March 2016

Leave a comment

It’s time once again to roll up the sleeves and get patching. This month we have thirteen security bulletins and associated updates from Microsoft. The updates address at least forty-four security vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, Windows Server, and .NET. Five of the updates are flagged as Critical.

Adobe’s contribution this month is new versions of Acrobat/Reader. You may have noticed that Adobe has confused things by splitting Acrobat/Reader into several variations: classic, continuous, and desktop. According to Adobe, the continuous variant always has all the most recent updates, fixes, and new features. I think it’s safe to assume that’s the variant most people should be using. The new continuous version of Reader is 15.010.20060. All of the new versions include fixes for three security vulnerabilities.

Adobe, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Windows

Patch Tuesday for February 2016

Leave a comment

Thirteen security updates from Microsoft this month address over forty issues in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, server software and .NET. Six are flagged as Critical.

In keeping with their recent practise of tagging along with Microsoft, Adobe also just released several updates, most notably for Flash. The latest version of Flash is now 20.0.0.306. As usual, Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1 and 10 and Edge on Windows 10 will get their new Flash via Windows Update, and Chrome will update itself with the latest Flash. The associated security bulletin gets into all the technical details. A total of 22 vulnerabilities are addressed in the new version.

Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Java

End in sight for Java browser plugin

Leave a comment

Oracle is finally throwing in the towel for Java browser plugins. A never-ending source of security problems, the Java plugin will be phased out in the near future. Browser software developers like Mozilla and Google made this move inevitable when they started removing plugin functionality in recent months.

This will cause headaches for organizations that use a lot of browser-based Java. They’ll be faced with a decision. Many will presumably stall for time, and continue to use existing Java applets in increasingly-outdated browsers. Others may decide to switch to another platform entirely, which is likely to be very costly. The best alternative is to – where possible – change browser-based Java applets to use the Java Web Start technology. According to a white paper from Oracle (PDF): “The conversion of an applet to a Java Web Start application provides the ability to launch and update the resulting application without relying on a web browser… Desktop shortcuts can also launch the application, providing the user with the same experience as that of a native application.”

Regular users will only notice the loss of the Java browser plugin if they happen to use one or more Java applets. Site operators have been aware that this change is coming for a while, and have been scaling back their use of Java applets, but they may still be found on some banking and financial sites, web site builders, and so on. One Java applet-based service that I find extremely useful is Berkley’s ICSI Netalyzer, which analyzes your network connection and reports on any issues it finds. I’m hoping that Netalyzer’s developers will convert it to use Java Web Start, or do something else to keep the service online.

Duo Security has additional related information.

Adobe, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Flash, Internet Explorer, Patches and updates, Security

More Flash updates

Leave a comment

The latest version of Flash is 20.0.0.286, for most browsers. Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer on newer versions of Windows are apparently still stuck at Flash 20.0.0.272.

Sadly, the information on the Adobe site related to these updates is inconsistent, confusing, or just missing.

The About Flash page doesn’t seem to agree with the announcement page. The former shows “Internet Explorer (embedded – Windows 8.x) – ActiveX 20.0.0.286”, while the latter shows “Flash Player 20 for Internet Explorer on Windows 8.1: 20.0.0.272”.

The Flash runtime announcement says “Security update details can be found here: Security Bulletin (APSB16-01)”. But the APSB16-01 bulletin is for the previous Flash updates. The linked URL is also wrong; it points to an even older bulletin: APSB15-32. And to top it off, the security bulletin that should exist (APSB16-02) for this update currently generates an error.

Hopefully Adobe will fix this mess ASAP.

Meanwhile, although the announcement doesn’t mention any security fixes in the new versions, it’s safe to assume they exist, so you should update Flash in any browser where it’s enabled.

As usual, Internet Explorer on new versions of Windows will receive these updates via Windows Update, and Chrome will get its new Flash automatically.

Update 2016Feb02: I reported the announcement and bulletin problems (noted above) to the author of the announcement. He replied that the About page would be fixed, and that he had fixed the link to the bulletin on the announcement page. Unfortunately, that link now goes to the bulletin for the previous Flash release. The author claims that bulletin still applies, but it really doesn’t, since it recommends the previous version of Flash.

Update 2016Feb04: According to the author of the announcement, there were effectively no changes in this Flash update. Certainly there were no security fixes. A link to the previous security bulletin was included simply because it was the most recent bulletin. The link text will be changed to make this more clear.

Adobe, Edge, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Silverlight, Windows

Patch Tuesday for January 2016

Leave a comment

This month’s Microsoft updates are more interesting than usual, in that they are the last for versions of Internet Explorer earlier than 11. No more patches for older IE versions means you should avoid using them if at all possible, since they are likely to become a major target for malicious persons intent on spreading malware and increasing the size of their botnets.

It’s interesting to speculate on how much of a hit Microsoft will take in terms of browser share once people move way from IE 8, 9, and 10. Estimates vary, but I’ve seen recent numbers that show IE 8 at 9%, IE 9 at 7%, and IE 10 at 4%. If everyone does the right thing and switches browsers, Microsoft could lose as much as 20% of their browser market share.

There are ten updates from Microsoft this month, affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, MS Office, Visual Basic, Silverlight, and Exchange Server. Six of the updates are flagged as Critical. A total of twenty-five vulnerabilities are addressed.

When installed, the Silverlight update will bump the software’s version up to Build 5.1.41212.0. Silverlight’s release notes page has been updated to show what’s changed.

Three security advisories were also published by Microsoft today, the most interesting of which is titled Deprecation of SHA-1 Hashing Algorithm for Microsoft Root Certificate Program.

Adobe joins the fun once again this month, but this time we only get an update for Reader that addresses fifteen vulnerabilities. Surprisingly, there are no updates for Flash.

Update: Support for Windows 8 has also ended. Anyone still using Windows 8 should upgrade to Windows 8.1 to continue receiving updates.

Clarification: Microsoft will still develop security updates for Internet Explorer 7, 8, 9, and 10, as well as Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 8, because they are still supported for some business clients, and for some Windows Server versions. The updates just won’t be available to regular folks.

Adobe, Edge, Flash, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Patches and updates, Security, Silverlight, Windows

Patch Tuesday for December 2015

Leave a comment

Another month, another pile o’ patches from Microsoft and Adobe. This month Microsoft is pushing out twelve updates, affecting 71 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer, Edge, Office, .NET and Silverlight. Eight of the updates are flagged as Critical.

Microsoft has also published a few security advisories since the last monthly update.

Adobe’s chimed in this month with a new Flash (aside: how weird would it be if they didn’t?) The new version addresses at least 78 security vulnerabilities in the veritable piece of swiss cheese we know as the Flash player. The new version is designated 20.0.0.228 on most platforms, but the version designed for use in Firefox and Safari on Windows and Mac is 20.0.0.235.