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Microsoft Fixes XP SP2 Firewall Flaw

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

December 17, 2004, 5:21 PM

Microsoft announced Friday that it has released a patch to remedy a potential security breach in its firewall utility shipped with Windows XP Service Pack 2. The flaw could make files visible outside of a local network if file and print sharing was activated.

Microsoft had acknowledged the problem on its SP 2 Web site back in September, however a patch was not released until Tuesday.

Gary Schare, Director of Product Management for Windows told BetaNews that "this release is an update provided to change the behavior of the Windows Firewall under very specific circumstances," which will fix the issue.

Schare said anyone wishing to learn more can visit the Windows XP Web site for more information.

Add a Comment (11 Comments)

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By bourgeoisdude

posted Dec 18, 2004 - 11:46 AM

...as far as exploiting this flaw it could be quite difficult, and unless you have other vulnerabilities unpatched it shouldn't in and of itself allow unauthorized access to your computer. Why isn't the NEW LSASS vulnerability making news? Heck, sasser and korgo could be reborn with that flaw!

Score: 0

By irdepesca572

edited Dec 17, 2004 - 6:41 PM

Weren't there 4 patches or something that came out on the 15th?

Score: 0

By rotjong

posted Dec 17, 2004 - 11:45 PM

Yes, and the firewall patch (KB886185) was one of them :-)

Score: 0

By irdepesca572

posted Dec 18, 2004 - 10:49 AM

Ah got it :P Thanks

Score: 0

By wormeyman

posted Dec 17, 2004 - 6:10 PM

I don't see it on windows update yet.

Score: 0

By rotjong

posted Dec 17, 2004 - 6:25 PM

It's KB886185. I installed it from WU on the 15th [2 days ago]. It was mixed in with a few other updates when MS released their most recent round of updates.

Score: 0

By wat0114

posted Dec 17, 2004 - 6:20 PM

I don't use their crappy firewall anyway.

Score: 0

By Mark Gillespie

posted Dec 18, 2004 - 8:29 AM

so what do you use? I doubt any software firewall is perfect, they all have holes and problems. What exactly is crappy about the Microsoft XPSP2 firewall?

Score: 0

By bleh427

posted Dec 19, 2004 - 1:21 PM

Bad interface, but not as bad as the Norton firewall

Score: 0

By wendysystems

posted Dec 19, 2004 - 3:30 PM

Microsoft has become stricter on re-installing its operateing systems.If you are experimenting with programming and mess up your system,microsoft has made it harder to re-install its operating systems.As many times as Windows crashes, you would think a re-install should we easy.But now microsoft has added more rules to re-install.

Score: 0

By yuppysniff21

posted Dec 21, 2004 - 4:03 AM

Which is why im using a linux OS.

Is it me or is the world of IT systems being horded by Microsoft?

Buy it, use it, re-install it, bin it, buy updated version ........... hay! thats why he's so rich! duh!

Face it their more interested in the money than they are getting the OS's tested/ready for businesses to use with no flaws first time.

LINUX all the way !!
Go the matrix revolution!! ROFL

Score: 0

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