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Windows XP Firewall Bug Flies Under the Radar

Posted by timothy on from the mistakes-were-made dept.

echocharlie writes "Last Friday, the Computer World reported a quiet update to Windows XP that fixed a bug in the Windows Firewall included in SP2. Gary Schare, Director of Windows Product Management, said it was 'an unfortunate oversight.' The update wasn't mentioned in Microsoft's Security Bulletin even though it's listed as critical because it's a configuration change, not a software fix. The bug may cause shared files and printers to be accessible by others on the Internet. Unfortunate, indeed. Patch those boxes."

3 of 30 comments (clear)

  1. I didn't RTFA so... by squiggleslash · · Score: 1, Insightful
    The bug may cause shared files and printers to be accessible by others on the Internet.
    I'm kind of confused by this. Do they mean "The bug may cause files and printers that weren't shared to be shared, and thus accessible by others", "The bug may cause files and printers that were only accessable by network users with certain rights to actually be accessable by anyone", or do they mean "The bug may cause shared files and printers to be accessable by others on the Internet."?

    If it's merely the latter, then how is that a bug? I mean, that's like saying "The bug may allow computers with "on" buttons to be powered up."

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    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  2. short summary by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    use an external firewall, one you can trust, one that ONLY does routing/firewalling.

    sp2's fw is nice to have. but not SUFFICIENT to have.

    that about sums it up.

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    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  3. Re:is that why by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So you can't keep an XP box running, good job.

    You want Linux? Try fedora.redhat.com

    Don't want Fedora, try googling for something.

    And about cutting it short to get first post.. WTF for?

    This isn't K5, grow up.

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