Re: Conflicting info between the global Security Bulletin and some SPi Security Bulletin


"Roger Abell [MVP]" <mvpNoSpam@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:egH2vBEWHHA.3568@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"David F" <David-White@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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The global detailed Security Bulleting is given in:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx

I did find the following problems there.
I normally use Win 2K + SP4.
According the Security Bulletin for the release of SP4,
(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/windows2000/w2ksp4.mspx)
it contains all new (new - with respect to SP3) patches in the range:
MS01-022 (4.18.2001) till MS03-030 (7.23.2003)
and of course also all prior patches from SP1 to SP3.

But when I looked in that detailed global list, I find for example that as
old
MS00--077 (10.13.2000 !) and many other older than MS03-030
should be applied to W2K/SP4. This doesn't make sense.


I do not see statement that ms00-077 applies to W2k Sp4
Where do you see this? In what you term the Global Sec Bulletin it
states this applies to W2k at Sp1 and Sp2, and if you read into it you
will see that the Sp2 part was added when the specific patch was
reissued to address a further, similar exploit. If you look at the KB
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=299796
you will see that the updated patch was first included in SP3


You are right - I copy and paste the wrong patch #. I meant to specify
MS02-032 dated: 6.26.2002, which is listed specifically as already included
in the SP4.


I found the exact same contradictions with regard to Win XP SP2.
In this case, I found even a worse situation, when patch # MS03-011
showing up in the detailed global list, which according to its date
and patch # should be included in the Security Bulletin list for
WXP/SP2 but it is not!. This list is given in:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/windowsXP/xpsp2.mspx


ms03-011 is something of a peculiar situation as it deals with the
MS distributed Java VM, which MS had to pull from availability
as part of a settlement with Sun. In fact, this was involved in the
reissue of XP Sp1 as XP Sp1a.
It is possible for even W2k3 to need this patch. It all depends on

I am confused by "...possible...". This one is ranked "critical" for installing
explicitly on W2K3 (as a matter of fact, on W2K2/3/4). But then again,
like MS02-032, it should have already been included in W2K4. But again,
what is worst, in spite of being released before SP4 was released, I would
expect it to be included in SP4 and me NOT needed to install it on a W2K4.
And like with WXP, it is missing from the Security Bulletin list for SP4.

the history of the machine. One could install an XP SP2 from an
XP Sp2 CD and not get the VM installed. Later, install of an older
download of some product might install the VM at a level before
3810, causing need for the patch at that point.
Read into the bulletin and you will see there is quite a bit that is
abnormal about this specific patch. Behind the scenes there is a
bit of legal history. One must take the history of a specific machine
into account to determine need, and just being at an OS level mentioned
in the bulletin does not mean one needs the patch (the VM might not be
present).

I am confused from the explanation.

My key point is that when I install a new system, I am obviously expected to
install the highest SPi (and for WXP I do have and use indeed the XP SP2 CD
you mentioned to install XP) and then simply add (manually in my case)
each patch listed in that global list that was released after the release of that
SPi, and that that list explicitly says it applies to that SPi.
It is that simply and that straight forward.
Accordingly, I would not expect any patch listed as released before the release
of a specific SPi, being mentioned as still applicable for that SPi.

And in the case of W2K, we have something called Rollup_1_ver_2-for SP4
which is even highier than SP4 (and I did not see an explicit list of what
security patches it contains) and it is not mentioned in that global list.
So the only way I can relate to it is by relaying to the date of the last patch
included as mentioned in its release notes. So I would use any patch listed
in the global list as mentioned above but that its release date is not just highier
than the last one to be included in SP4 but highier than that last date of that
Rollup.

BTW, I also would think that it should not matter, that for the case of XP,
for example, that it would not matter whether one installs the very
original XP he has and add later the downloadable SP2 or use that CD
mentioned above.



So I don't know what to make of it and how I can rely on that
detailed global list in terms of what to pickup from it and apply to
W2K/SP4
(and the same for WXP/SP2).


You seem to be going about this the hard way David.
You can either use the Microsoft Update site in Custom mode to
get a list of what a specific machine needs based on what is at
the moment installed; or one can download MBSA and after it
is installed open a cmd prompt at the install directory and issue
mbsacli /?
for syntax, and then use mbsacli with a switch
/n OS+IIS+SQL+Password
in order to only check patches

You are right about "the hard way" - to some degree. But - when I looked once
into that MBSA "thing", it looks to me overly cumbersome (like most other
things from MS) and also things being changed all the time.
So I am not sure if in this case it is worth the time invested in it.
I might be wrong of course.
My understanding is that there is something called a "scan file" which is something
like a definition file (like for viruses detection for example), that the executable
MBSA program uses to figure out what my SW product(s) already have and
produces a list of MS0X-0YYs (or similar) I do need still to install. And, if
the executable and "scan file" are installed, it is all dome offline.

It seems that for Office 2K I still have to use MBSA ver. 1.2.1. But I could
NOT find an offline scan file for that ver. and my impression is that this version
works online only - exactly the kind of things I am trying to avoid
Even for MBSA ver 2.0.1, I could not find the scan file, especially the new one.

David
======
Albert Einstein: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."



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