Patch rolled out by Microsoft to cover SMB vulnerability

Microsoft has released a patch to cover a publicly-reported denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability that affects the server messaging block protocol.

Writing in a blog post, group manager at Microsoft Research Centre Mike Reavey, claimed that the vulnerability in SMBv1 and SMBv2 affects Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Reavey said: “I want to be clear that this is a DoS vulnerability that is unrelated to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-050 which addressed a remote code execution vulnerability in the SMBv2 protocol. This vulnerability would not allow an attacker to take control or install malware on a user's system, but could cause the affected system to stop responding until manually restarted.”

The bulletin MS09-050 was released on October's Patch Tuesday when it impacted the Vista and Windows 2008 platforms. Reavey claimed that the situation was being monitored and Microsoft was not aware of active attacks.

“As always, we continue to encourage the responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities to help ensure customers receive high-quality security updates without exposure to malicious attacks,” said Reavey.

See original article on scmagazineuk.com