Microsoft regularly patches its various Windows versions to fix bugs and close exploits but the latest security update, released on Tuesday, is getting some special attention from the company. In a blog post, Microsoft said that the update, MS12-020, should be downloaded and installed by Windows XP, Vista and 7 users right away.
The vulnerability in question relates to the remote desktop protocol in Windows. The exploit could allow any hackers to run malicious code on your Windows PC " ... if an attacker sends a sequence of specially crafted RDP packets to an affected system."
The good news? This exploit was found by an anonymous third party who then contacted Microsoft to inform them of the issue. In addition, the remote desktop protocol is disabled by default in all versions of Windows.
Nevertheless, Microsoft is still recommending strongly that all Windows users grab and install the security update, saying:
Developing a working exploit will not be trivial – we would be surprised to see one developed in the next few days. However, we expect to see working exploit code developed within the next 30 days.
The update should be available automatically via Windows Update so what are you waiting for? Patch it up right now!
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