MS Patch Train Leaves the Station

per1176 writes "Microsoft has released 10 advisories to cover a dozen security vulnerabilities, including a "critical" cumulative update for the Internet Explorer browser. The IE fix corrects a remote code-execution vulnerability that exists due to the way the browser handles PNG (Portable Network Graphics) files."

Comments

Re:Forgive my ignorance

[/ASCII]

You misunderstand the way that patches work. It seems intuitive that when a patch is applied to a program, it is somehow sewed onto the program binary, much like you sew a patch onto a piece of clothing. If that where the case, programs would indeed get larger and larger, until all programs where made of 99% patches and all looked exactly alike.

The reason why this does not happen is that once a patch has been applied for a while, it is removed again. This is most apparent under Linux, where you can download a patch file and apply it directly to the source. Applying the patch will change the program, but will not consume or change the patch itself. Obviously, once the patch has been applied, it's code healing abilities kick in and remove any local vulnerabilities, after which the patch can be safely removed.

As a matter of fact, the exact same patch can be applied to multiple pieces of software, without destroying or diminishing the patch. Try it out for yourself! Be aware, though, that some patches are made to fit specific types of programs or bugs, so applying a patch made to fix a buffer overflow in firefox may fix similar bugs in Opera or Internet Explorer, they will most likely do very little to remove crash bugs in Open Office or Gnome.

Re:New Microsoft Security Update

[James_Aguilar]

You mean so they can experience the joy of having to edit text configuration files in order to get even their onboard NIC to work? Hmmm . . . no thanks . . . good thing we can turn Windows update off. Viruses are a risk of lossiness, Linux is a reality of the same.

Re:IE PNGs

[Cat_Byte]

Go out and convince MS to stop packaging it with their os. Make people have to do a little work to get on the internet.

Obviously you have not tried to install any old Microsoft products and get to windowsupdate yet ;)