First Windows 7 Zero-Day Exploit Airs, But Danger Isn’t Great For Most

by admin November 13, 2009 at 2:40 pm

Problems with SMB have persisted since Windows 7’s RC phase

Windows 7 is arguably much more secure than its predecessor, Windows Vista, with more robust memory protections against attacks and with the wide availability of Microsoft’s free antivirus suite, Microsoft Security Essentials. Many possibly exploitable vulnerabilities were found and removed during the unprecedented public testing phase as well.

However, challenges remain for Windows 7. A recent report found that the OS’s UAC was less robust than Vista’s and allowed 7 of 10 pieces of malware to be freely installed. Now, following Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday a familiar problem has returned.

The Windows SMB (Server Message Block) protocol has had problems ever since the discovery during the OS’s public testing phase of a supposedly show-stopping bug that could, according to some sources, cause Windows 7 to blue screen. Now another SMB bug, which throws Windows 7 into an infinite loop forcing a reset, has reared its ugly head.

Read more: dailytech.com