November Black Tuesday Overview

Published: 2008-11-11. Last Updated: 2008-11-13 00:04:14 UTC
by Swa Frantzen (Version: 2)
1 comment(s)

Overview of the November 2008 Microsoft patches and their status.

# Affected Contra Indications Known Exploits Microsoft rating ISC rating(*)
clients servers
MS08-068 The NTLM protocol allows an attacking server to reflect credentials and use them against the client gaining the rights of the logged on user.
Replaces MS06-030 and MS05-011.
SMB

CVE-2008-4037

KB 957097

UPDATE: Vulnerability first made public in March 2001, exploits readily available.

Important Critical Important
MS08-069 Multiple vulnerabilities allow memory corruption (code execution with the rights of the logged on user), cross domain scripting and cross domain information leaks.
Replaces MS07-042.
XML core services

CVE-2007-0099
CVE-2008-4029
CVE-2008-4033
KB 955218 CVE-2007-0099 was made public on January 4th, 2007. Critical Critical Important
We will update issues on this page for about a week or so as they evolve.
We appreciate updates
US based customers can call Microsoft for free patch related support on 1-866-PCSAFETY
(*): ISC rating
  • We use 4 levels:
    • PATCH NOW: Typically used where we see immediate danger of exploitation. Typical environments will want to deploy these patches ASAP. Workarounds are typically not accepted by users or are not possible. This rating is often used when typical deployments make it vulnerable and exploits are being used or easy to obtain or make.
    • Critical: Anything that needs little to become "interesting" for the dark side. Best approach is to test and deploy ASAP. Workarounds can give more time to test.
    • Important: Things where more testing and other measures can help.
    • Less Urgent: Typically we expect the impact if left unpatched to be not that big a deal in the short term. Do not forget them however.
  • The difference between the client and server rating is based on how you use the affected machine. We take into account the typical client and server deployment in the usage of the machine and the common measures people typically have in place already. Measures we presume are simple best practices for servers such as not using outlook, MSIE, word etc. to do traditional office or leisure work.
  • The rating is not a risk analysis as such. It is a rating of importance of the vulnerability and the perceived or even predicted threat for affected systems. The rating does not account for the number of affected systems there are. It is for an affected system in a typical worst-case role.
  • Only the organization itself is in a position to do a full risk analysis involving the presence (or lack of) affected systems, the actually implemented measures, the impact on their operation and the value of the assets involved.
  • All patches released by a vendor are important enough to have a close look if you use the affected systems. There is little incentive for vendors to publicize patches that do not have some form of risk to them.

--
Swa Frantzen -- Section 66

1 comment(s)

Comments

When I first used Microsoft Update against a Windows 2003 SP1 server, it didn't report MS06-068 (957097) as applicable, which contradicted the security bulletin. When I tried again 15 minutes later, it did. I'm guessing Microsoft was still updating their servers. Always cross-check the security bulletins against your patching systems!

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