windows emergency fix

[tomyrush]

Microsoft has released a Microsoft security advisory (2286198) about this issue for IT professionals. The security advisory contains additional security-related information. To view the security advisory, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/securi ... 86198.mspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/securi ... 86198.mspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)


To have us fix this problem for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Has anyone run the"fix it for me"?

Any problems or did all go well?

Tom

[HansV]

I'll wait until it appears in Microsoft Update / Automatic Updates - if it's important it'll probably be released next Tuesday (the 4th Tuesday of the month is usually used for "extra" updates).

[tomyrush]

I ran the fix this morning and was surprised at the outcome - going back into MS to look at the kb article I saw what happened.
From the kb article

"Impact of workaround. Disabling icons from being displayed for shortcuts prevents the issue from being exploited on affected systems. When this workaround is implemented, the system may display most icons as a "white" default object icon, which does impact usability. We recommend that system administrators test this workaround thoroughly prior to deployment. When the workaround is undone, all icons will reappear. "

On my box this only affected the task bar at the bottom of the screen - the icons on my desktop did go to the "generic" icon, but their descriptions remained.

Tom

[HansV]

Thanks for the description - I'll definitely wait and see what Microsoft does before installing this one!

[HansV]

JoeP reports that Microsoft will release a fix to the general public next Monday (the 2nd of August 2010) - see malicious shortcut file fix.

[tomyrush]

Microsoft did release a fix for kb2286198
Instructions said to "undo" the fix if you had installed the emergency fix-

After"Undoing the preliminary fix" All icons reappeared - had to reboot then apply the permanent fix - everything worked fine and then I had to reboot again.

All Icons are normal now

Tom

[HansV]

I hadn't installed the original fix, but got the new one through automatic updates; it installed without problems. I had to reboot once.