Microsoft released updates for all supported versions of Windows today, on account of it being the second Tuesday of the month, or Patch Tuesday. Of course, this includes older versions of the OS, such as Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1, along with various older versions of Windows Server.
Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will see KB4088875. It can be manually downloaded here, and it contains the following fixes:
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer is unresponsive in certain scenarios when a Browser Helper Object is installed.
Updates legacy Document Mode cell visibility in Internet Explorer.
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer stops working in certain printing scenarios.
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer stops working when using F12-based developer tools.
Provides cumulative Spectre and Meltdown protections for 32-Bit (x86) and 64-Bit (x64) versions of Windows except the KB4078130 update that was offered to disable mitigation against Spectre Variant 2.
Security updates to Internet Explorer, the Microsoft Graphics component, Windows Kernel, Windows Shell, Windows MSXML, Windows Installer, and Windows Hyper-V.
It also contains a few known issues to be aware of:
| Symptom | Workaround |
|---|---|
| After installing this update, SMB servers may leak memory. | Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release. |
| A Stop error occurs if this update is applied to a 32-Bit (x86) machine with the Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode disabled. | Microsoft is working on fixing this issue, and this update is, therefore, currently made available to machines with the Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode enabled. |
| A Stop error occurs on machines that don"t support Streaming Single Instructions Multiple Data (SIMD) Extensions 2 (SSE2). | Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release. |
| Because of an issue that affects some versions of antivirus software, this fix applies only to computers on which the antivirus ISV updated the ALLOW REGKEY. | Contact your antivirus manufacturer to verify that their software is compatible and that they have set the following REGKEY on the computer: Key="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE"Subkey= "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\QualityCompat" Value Name="cadca5fe-87d3-4b96-b7fb-a231484277cc" Type="REG_DWORD” Data="0x00000000” |
There"s also a security-only update that you can download here. KB4088878 contains the latter two points on the changelog, and the same known issues.
Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 users will get KB4088876, and you can manually download that here. Here"s what"s been fixed:
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer is unresponsive in certain scenarios when a Browser Helper Object is installed.
Updates legacy Document Mode cell visibility in Internet Explorer.
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer stops working in certain printing scenarios.
Addresses issue where Internet Explorer stops working when using F12-based developer tools.
Addresses issue in Internet Explorer that caused the Outlook web app to slow down under certain circumstances.
Addresses issue where customers sometimes can"t sign in to Windows 2012 R2 servers when using a custom credential provider on a console or RDP.
Provides cumulative Spectre and Meltdown protections for 32-Bit (x86) and 64-Bit (x64) versions of Windows except the KB4078130 update that was offered to disable mitigation against Spectre Variant 2.
Security updates to Internet Explorer, the Microsoft Graphics component, Windows Kernel, Windows Shell, Windows MSXML, Windows Installer, and Windows Hyper-V.
The only known issue to be aware of is the last of the four listed above, which affects some PCs with anti-virus software. The security-only update, KB4088879, has the same issue, and the last three points on the changelog above. You can manually download that here.
Finally, Windows Server 2012 gets KB4088877, and it has the same known issue as the 2012 R2 patch. You can manually download it here, and it has the following fixes:
Provides Spectre and Meltdown protections for 32-Bit (x86) and 64-Bit (x64) versions of Windows.
Security updates to Internet Explorer, the Microsoft Graphics component, Windows Kernel, Windows Shell, Windows MSXML, Windows Installer, and Windows Hyper-V.
There"s also a security-only update for Windows Server 2012, KB4088880, which can be manually downloaded here. It contains the exact same changelog as the full monthly update.