Microsoft releases out-of-order patch for critical vulnerability

A critical vulnerability prompted Microsoft to release an out-of-order update in order to protect against exploitation of what it called a "wormable" flaw. Coined by security program manager Christopher Budd, the term was used to emphasize the susceptibility of this particular security hole to automated computer worms. Indeed, a remote attacker could potentially take over vulnerable Windows XP systems without any user interaction whatsoever. The significance of this patch is apparent given that two weeks have passed since Microsoft's Patch Tuesday for the month of October.

This vulnerability was discovered as part of research by the Microsoft Security Response Center team and is documented in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067. Administrators are encouraged to patch this up, as attack code surfaced just hours after Microsoft posted details of this bug.

For more on this story:
- check out this New York Times article

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