Windows XP users, are you still with us?

[kate]

Looks like the first major vulnerability for XP has been discovered. It's in Internet Explorer so it also affects other Windows versions.

The zero-day code-execution hole in IE versions 6 through 11 represents a significant threat to the Internet security because there is currently no fix for the underlying bug, which affects an estimated 26 percent of the total browser market. It's also the first severe vulnerability to target affect Windows XP users since Microsoft withdrew support for that aging OS earlier this month. Users who have the option of using an alternate browser should avoid all use of IE for the time being. Those who remain dependent on the Microsoft browser should immediately install EMET, Microsoft's freely available toolkit that greatly extends the security of Windows systems.

The vulnerability is formally indexed as CVE-2014-1776. Microsoft has blog posts here, here, and here that lay out bare bones details uncovered at this early stage in its investigation. Although there is no exploited vulnerability in Adobe Flash, disabling the browser add-on will also neutralize attacks, analysts at security firm FireEye Research Labs wrote in a separate blog post published Sunday. Disabling vector markup language support in IE also mitigates attacks.

 

[bjacks12]

The zero-day code-execution hole in IE versions 6 through 11 represents a significant threat to the Internet security because there is currently no fix for the underlying bug, which affects an estimated 26 percent of the total browser market. It's also the first severe vulnerability to target affect Windows XP users since Microsoft withdrew support for that aging OS earlier this month. Users who have the option of using an alternate browser should avoid all use of IE permanently. Those who remain dependent on the Microsoft browser should immediately install EMET, Microsoft's freely available toolkit that greatly extends the security of Windows systems.

Fixed it.

 

[zuben el genub]

On 98SE, there was a shell that hid IE so thoroughly that crap couldn't find it.

I only use it to read HTML tutorials and documents on OFFLINE xp computers.

I've hated IE since the stupid interactive desktop and My this and My that.

 

[jefboyardee]

Microsoft Fixes Nasty IE Bug, Even for Windows XP

Earlier this week PCMag reported on a zero-day bug in Internet Explorer that would allow cybercrooks to run arbitrary code on users' PCs. Just visiting a malicious website would suffice to allow the attack, and the bug affected all versions of IE from 6 to 11. Worse, given that XP has reached its end of support, those holdouts still using XP would be permanently vulnerable. Good news! Not only has Microsoft released a patch for all versions of IE, they're even patching XP's Internet Explorer 8.

I never use IE on my Win7 but I checked Updates for that fix... nothing there.

 

[jefboyardee]

Microsoft patches IE bug in Windows XP, but it’s a huge mistake

Microsoft, after officially retiring Windows XP back in April, has decided in its infinite wisdom to issue a patch for the Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability that affected all versions of IE across Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. While this might seem like the right thing to do, it’s actually a huge mistake that undercuts Microsoft’s efforts to get the hundreds of millions of Windows XP holdouts to upgrade. After all, if Microsoft fixed this bug in Windows XP, who’s to say it won’t do it again?

 

[jefboyardee]

If Microsoft Dropped Support of Windows XP, Why Did it Just Get a Security Patch?

Microsoft claims to have issued the security patch because the problem came up so close to when it officially ended support.

 

[jefboyardee]

And damned if you don't...

Chinese government bans Windows 8 due to Microsoft’s retirement of Windows XP

Microsoft has a complicated history with Windows in China. PC sales are roughly the same as the US, but more than a third are still running XP. There are no official numbers on government IT platforms, but it’s safe to say XP’s share is even higher there. What is remarkable about the Chinese software market is the sheer number of pirated Windows installs. In spite of all those PC sales, Microsoft only sees about 5% of the revenue in China that it does in the US.

 

[jefboyardee]

Windows XP rises from the grave: Simple hack gives you five more years of updates

With a simple registry hack, you can net yourself five more years of official Microsoft updates for your aging Windows XP machine.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

That's great but 2 things concerns me. One would be that heart bleed bug and the second would be the problem you do when your locking the system up so it can't boot . this would be carried out from the registry

 

[Demache]

That's great but 2 things concerns me. One would be that heart bleed bug and the second would be the problem you do when your locking the system up so it can't boot . this would be carried out from the registry

Heart bleed is an exploit in OpenSSL and doesn't really have anything to do with XP, as it affects vulnerable software on any OS using OpenSSL. Most software has been patched at this point.

 

[mikedt]

Windows XP will never die.

My new office PC, delivered yesterday by the school. A Lenovo ThinkCentre all-in-one, complete with Windows 7 stickers.