Microsoft Quietly Issues Critical Fix

Although Microsoft has endeavored to keep updates to Windows confined to its monthly "Patch Tuesday," the company has quietly posted a critical fix for Windows XP SP2. The patch resolves a potential "blue screen" caused by a coding error in the Http.sys file and primarily affects users with anti-virus or firewall software.

Microsoft posted an advisory about the issue in December, but because it relates to an operating system crash rather than vulnerability, Redmond officials did not rush out a security bulletin. However, the fix has been deemed critical and will be pushed to customers via Windows' Automatic Update. Although Windows Server 2003 is also affected, no patch is currently available.