windows
Microsoft to deprecate WSUS driver synchronization in 90 days
Microsoft has reminded Windows administrators that driver synchronization in Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) will be deprecated on April 18, 90 days from now. The company first announced the deprecation in June 2024, when it also encouraged customers to adopt its newer cloud-based driver services. “If you’re using driver synchronization updates via Windows Server Update Services […]
Hackers use Windows RID hijacking to create hidden admin account
A North Korean threat group has been using a technique called RID hijacking that tricks Windows into treating a low-privileged account as one with administrator permissions. The hackers used a custom malicious file and an open source tool for the hijacking attack. Both utilities can perform the attack but researchers at South Korean cybersecurity company AhnLab say that […]
Windows 11 24H2 now also offered to all eligible Windows 10 PCs
Microsoft says Windows 11 24H2 has entered the broad deployment phase and is now available to all seekers via Windows Update. The latest Windows version (known as the Windows 11 2024 Update) has also begun rolling out to all eligible PCs running Windows 10 22H2 this Tuesday. “Starting this week, we are expanding this latest Windows version’s phased rollout. […]
7-Zip fixes bug that bypasses Windows MoTW security warnings, patch now
A high-severity vulnerability in the 7-Zip file archiver allows attackers to bypass the Mark of the Web (MotW) Windows security feature and execute code on users’ computers when extracting malicious files from nested archives. 7-Zip added support for MotW in June 2022, starting with version 22.00. Since then, it has automatically added MotW flags (special ‘Zone.Id’ alternate data streams) to […]
Microsoft fixes Windows Server 2022 bug breaking device boot
Microsoft has fixed a bug that was causing some Windows Server 2022 systems with two or more NUMA nodes to fail to start up. NUMA (short for non-uniform memory access) is a computer memory architecture in which multiple processors are connected to the same shared memory pool via high-speed interconnections to control performance bottlenecks. This design […]
Microsoft shares temp fix for Outlook crashing when writing emails
Microsoft has shared a temporary fix for a known issue that causes classic Outlook to crash when writing, replying to, or forwarding an email. These problems appear after updating Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2021, Outlook 2019, or Outlook 2016 to Version 2412 (Build 18324.20168), released on January 7, and will trigger “0xc0000005” exception codes. “You […]
Microsoft fixes Office 365 apps crashing on Windows Server systems
Microsoft has fixed a known issue that caused Microsoft 365 applications and Classic Outlook to crash on Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 systems. The root cause is a recent Office update, which integrated the React Native framework to support certain Microsoft 365 apps’ features, while the impact was limited to Microsoft 365 users who updated their classic […]
Microsoft starts force upgrading Windows 11 22H2, 23H3 devices
Microsoft has started the forced rollout of Windows 11 24H2 to eligible, non-managed systems running the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2. According to the company’s Lifecycle Policy site, Windows 11 23H2 will reach the end of support in October 2025, while Windows 11 22H2 Home and Pro have already reached it in October 2024. “We have reached a new […]
Microsoft expands testing of Windows 11 admin protection feature
Microsoft has expanded its Windows 11 administrator protection tests, allowing Insiders to enable the security feature from the Windows Security settings. First introduced in October in a preview build for Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary Channel, admin protection uses a hidden, just-in-time elevation mechanism and Windows Hello authentication prompts that only unlock admin rights when needed […]
New UEFI Secure Boot flaw exposes systems to bootkits, patch now
A new UEFI Secure Boot bypass vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-7344 that affects a Microsoft-signed application could be exploited to deploy bootkits even if Secure Boot protection is active. The vulnerable UEFI application is present in multiple real-time system recovery tools from several third-party software developers. Bootkits represent a critical security threat that is difficult to detect because […]