Microsoft is revising a security patch for Windows XP
systems with Service Pack 1 installed after customers complained
that installing the patch slowed their systems down.
Microsoft is working on a revised patch for Windows XP Service
Pack 1 and will re-issue that patch when it has been completed and
fully tested, the software maker said in a revised version of its
security bulletin
MS03-013.
Originally released on 16 April, the security bulletin addressed
a buffer over-run vulnerability in the Windows kernel, which
manages core services for the operating system such as allocating
processor time and memory, as well as error handling.
A flaw in the way the kernel passes error messages to a debugger
could enable a malicious hacker to take any action on a vulnerable
system such as deleting data, reconfiguring the device or modifying
user accounts and privileges, Microsoft said.
Soon after the patch was released, however, Windows XP users
began complaining in online forums of performance problems that
appeared after the patch was applied.
Users reported that Windows XP can take up to 10 seconds or even
more to start an application after installation of the patch.
Removing the patch brings system speed back to normal, Windows XP
users wrote in dozens of postings on several online discussion
boards.
The company received a "small number" of complaints resulting
from "special situations" involving the interaction of XP Service
Pack 1 and third-party applications following the patch, according
to Stephen Toulouse, security programme manager at Microsoft's
Security Response Centre.
Microsoft has lowered the Windows Update ranking for the
security patch so it does not automatically install on systems that
have the auto-update feature enabled. Also, the Windows Update
website no longer displays the patch as critical, but as
recommended, a Microsoft spokesman said.
"These steps were taken to give customers the opportunity to
evaluate the patch before installing it," the spokesman said.
Microsoft is actively involved in finding a solution to the
performance problems, in addition to investigating how the faulty
patch made it through Microsoft's patch review process, Toulouse
said.
Microsoft said it will also publish an article that describes
what environmental factors produce slow downs when combined with
the XP patch and what can be done to reduce the impact of the slow
downs should they occur.