etee's Blog

This previous weekend, exploits of the vulnerability in MS05-039 were released to the public. Microsoft has issued a Security Advisory concerning this problem, and has reiterated the need for people to apply the patch -- quickly.

Simply put, the "patch window" -- the time between when a vulnerability is publicly acknowledged by a vendor and a patch is made available, and the date that an exploit for said vulnerability is made available, has effectively disappeared. "Zero-Day" exploits (which are exploits released before a patch is available) are becoming more commonplace. We can't simply reply on patching to protect us any longer, nor can we defer patching until it is convenient for us.