Microsoft has issued one critical patch as part of its monthly
"Patch Tuesday" update, which could affect hundreds of
applications.
Application compatibility testing lab
ChangeBase has alerted users that
patch
MS08-057 is a significant update to more than 50 core
files.
The company said that Java applications running using
Microsoft's IE7 internet control, would need testing after the
patch is applied. "If you have a Java application that uses the IE7
internet control, you will need to thoroughly test this
application," said Grant Ford, chief operating officer at
ChangeBase.
A report produced by the company's Aok automated software
installation testing tool found that other applications affected
include Oracle 9, several HP printer drivers and some IBM AS/400
client access tools.
Ford said, "We recommend organisations test their key
applications affected by this patch before deploying the update and
look carefully at the small number of applications affected more
widely by these updates."
He estimated that many corporates have between 10% to 30% of
their applications developed in house. "Hundreds or even thousands
of individual packages will need testing," Ford warned.
"Corporates will be under extreme pressure to release this these
new patches to the live environment but proper testing can takes
months."