Updated: July 12, 2020 (December 20, 2004)

Dec. 2004 Update Summary

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Two critical and five important updates were issued in Dec. 2004. The critical security patch was released early to address exploits, and all the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution, which could allow an attacker to take control of a vulnerable computer. The critical configuration change for Windows Firewall was released without a Security Bulletin because Microsoft did not deem it a vulnerability, but rather a critical update for a design bug.

Bulletin	Severity	Vulnerability Impact	Affected Versions
MS04-40 Cumulative Security Update for IE (889293)*	Critical	Remote code execution	NT Server 4.0 SP6a NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition SP6 Windows 2000 SP3 and SP4 Windows XP SP 1** Windows 98, SE, ME
Windows Firewall Configuration Change (886185)***	Critical	Computer can be accessed when dialed into Internet	Windows XP SP2 Windows Tablet Edition 2005
MS04-41 Vulnerability in WordPad Could Allow Remote Code

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