Microsoft pulls Patch Tuesday kernel update - MS14-045 can cause Blue Screen of Death

Microsoft has pulled one of its August 2014 Patch Tuesday updates.

MS14-045, which fixes various security holes in the Windows kernel, can cause a Blue Screen of Death (BSoD), thus forcing a reboot.

Apparently, the BSoD is caused by incorrect handling of the Windows font cache file - and because that happens during boot-up, you end up stuck in a reboot loop.

(Yes, MS14-045 requires a reboot after you've applied it.)

The euphemistically-named "bugcheck" number that you'll see if you are affected is: 0x50 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.
The reason this problem didn't show up in testing is because it only happens under rather specific circumstances,

You need to have one or more OpenType Font (OTF) files, installed in non-standard font directories, that are recorded in the registry with fully-qualified filenames.

A default Windows 8.1 install, for instance, includes only TTF (TrueType Font), TTC (TrueType font Collection) and FON (Windows bitmap FONt) files, recorded without pathnames:

Microsoft has published a workaround that will get you up and running again, but it involves a fair amount of fiddling.

You need to:

Boot from installation media or go into Recovery Mode.
Delete the crash-triggering file %WINDOWS%\system32\fntcache.dat.
Reboot normally, which should now succeed.
Save the registry key (see image above) that enumerates your fonts.
Remove from the registry all OTF font references with pathnames.
Delete %WINDOWS%\system32\fntcache.dat again. (It will have been rebuilt.)
Uninstall the MS14-045 update.
Restore the registry key that enumerates your fonts.
Reboot again.
The sort of font entry you need to remove from the registry, if you have any like it, is shown in an example on Microsoft's Knowledgebase page:

As well as MS14-045, three other Microsoft updates may provoke this problem, so any of the following updates should be removed, if you've installed them, in step 7 above:

• 2982791 MS14-045: security update for kernel-mode drivers
• 2970228 New currency symbol for RUB
• 2975719 Aug 2014 rollup for RT 8.1, 8.1, Server 2012 R2
• 2975331 Aug 2014 rollup for RT, 8, Windows Server 2012

Unfortunately, and understandably, Patch Tuesday aftershocks of this sortleave sysamdins wondering if they should approach future updates more cautiously.

We regularly urge you to "patch early, patch often," so let's hope Microsoft's patch for the broken patch goes smoothly, lest even those who weren't affected this time get cold feet next month.

Author - Hack4friends

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Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4

Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4

 Here's some Grinchy news for those of you who put Samsung's Galaxy S4 on your holiday wish list: Israeli researchers have identified a vulnerability in the smartphone that allegedly allows a hacker to easily intercept secure data.

We did not immediately hear back from Samsung with a response to the reported flaw, but the company has told The Wall Street Journal and other news outlets that it's looking into the issues and thus far doesn't believe the problem is as serious as the researchers present in their findings.

The report comes not only as many Galaxy S4 phones sit wrapped up under Christmas trees, but also as Samsung pitches its new Knox security platform, used in the device, to federal agencies like the Department of Defense.

 The Knox software offers high-level encryption, a VPN feature, and a way to separate personal data from work data. It also enables IT administrators to manage a mobile device through specific policies, and Samsung hopes it will appeal to security-sensitive clients as a replacement for BlackBerry devices. Knox-enabled devices have already been approved by the Pentagon for government use.

The alleged vulnerability was discovered earlier this month by researchers at Ben-Gurion University's Cyber Security Labs. Specifically, they say while the Knox is the most advanced security-driven infrastructure for mobile phones, the alleged flaw enables malicious software to track e-mails and record data communications. The flaw was uncovered by Ph.D. student Mordechai Guri during an unrelated research task.

"Knox has been widely adopted by many organizations and government agencies and this weakness has to be addressed immediately before it falls into the wrong hands," he said. "We are also contacting Samsung in order to provide them with the full technical details of the breach so it can be fixed immediately." 

via Online Sources

Team- Hack4friends

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