Updates 2023-02-14

Happy Valentine’s Day, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for February, 2023.

There are a whopping 150+ major hacks and 200+ application updates this month. It’s a big one, with about 6 GB of updates for most users. Microsoft is also pushing out Windows 22H2 (Win10 and Win11) for all supported devices. If you’re not already on the latest builds, expect to be “upgraded” automatically in the coming days.

This Month in Technology

1020 South Main Street Operations LLC, 1st Franklin Financial Corporation Master Welfare Benefit Plan, 225 Evergreen Road Operations LLC, 90 Degree Benefits, Inc., A10 Networks, Aflac, Alkomprar Technology, AmerisourceBergen, an unnamed medical research company, Arizona Health Advantage, Inc., Arnold Clark, Aspire Surgical, Atlassian’s Jira Service Management Server and Data Center, Audifarma, Autotrader, Bahrain’s international airport, Benefit Administrative Systems, LLC, BonqDAO, Brazilian Government, British PM Stewart McDonald, Cacti, Cardiovascular Associates, Casa Ley, Cedar Oaks Surgery Center, Centro Médico Virgen De La Caridad, CircleCi, Cisco IOx, City Council of Durango, City of London, City of Oakland, Community Health Systems, CommuteAir – exposing the TSA no-fly list, Control Web Panel, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Court of Justice of the State of Pará, Datadog, Diligent Corp, DNV (impacting over 1000 ships worldwide), DotHouse Health Incorporated, DPP II, LLC, Dr. Keith Rundle & Dr. Herman Rundle, Edmonds School District, Eurostar, Exclu, FortiOS SSL-VPN, General Treasury of the Republic of Chile, Git, GitHub Atom, GitHub Desktop, GoAnywhere MFT, 130 organizations using GoAnywhere, Google Fi, GoTo, Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Online, Harmony Horizon, Health Plan of San Mateo, Heritage Provider Network, Hive, Home Care Providers of Texas, Howard Memorial Hospital, Indigo Books & Music, Instituto Federal Do Pará, Intelligent Business Solutions, ION Group, iOS, IT Servicios, Italy, Jackson & Joyce Family Dentistry, JD Sports, Jefferson County Health Center, KeePass, KomplettFritid, Kroger, LastPass, League of Legends, LearnPress, Lexmark firmware, LimeVPN, Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Los Angeles Unified School District, Luaces Asesores, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, macOS, MailChimp, Maternal and Family Health Services, Microsoft-Verified OAuth Apps, a Midwest specialty medical care clinic, Mindpath Health, Minuteman Senior Services, MKS Instruments, Morgan Hill Unified School District, multiple federal civilian executive branch (FCEB) agenciesNamecheap, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Nissan North America, Norton LifeLock (including their password manager), ODIN Intelligence, One Brooklyn Health System, Packman anti-cheat software, PayPal, Pennsburg Manor, PeopleConnect (TruthFinder and Instant Checkmate), Pepsi, Pharma Gestao, Pitt Meadows School District 42, Planet Ice, Politriz, Puma, QNAP NAS, Qualys, Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office, Qulliq Energy Corporation, Reddit, Regal Medical Group, Rise Interactive Media & Analytics, LLC, Rostelecom, Royal Mail, Rundle Eye Care, Samsung Galaxy App Store, San Francisco Transit Police, Seguros Equinoccial S.A, Sharp HealthCare, Shell, Sistema Integral De Control Alimentario, Skyview Networks, Solaris, Southeast Colorado Hospital District, St. Rose Hospital, Stanford Medicine, Stroke Scan Inc, T-Mobile, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Teijin Automotive Technologies Welfare Plan, The Guardian, Ticketmaster, Toyota’s GSPIMS, Tucson, Arizona, Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team, Ukrinform, University of California, University of Colorado Hospital Authority, University of Colorado, University of Duisburg-Essen, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Miami, UScellular, VMware OpenSLP, VMware vRealize Log Insight, Weee!, Yum! Brands, Zacks Investment Research, and Zurich have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

Most federal agencies ignore the GAO cybersecurity recommendations.

Bankdata, Bermuda, The FAA’s NOTAM, Instagram, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Tor, Twitter, Verizon, YouTube, and Zelle suffered from significant outages.

Cloudflare managed to prevent an insane 71 million requests per second attack.

Last months updates broke the Windows Start menu, Windows 10 (if a 365 trial was active), and almost 300 MSI motherboard models.

A whopping 12% (minimum) of online stores expose private data or backups. A new strain of point-of-sale malware prevents contactless payments in order to ensure that the skimmer operates unhindered.

Now for the good news:

Impossible Foods are being hit with patent problems across the globe. Hopefully this will lead to a financial incentive to grow real foods again.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday is huge this month. The typical computer should see roughly
6 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Like it or not, Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions 22H2 are now being pushed out onto all supported devices, so expect it to be installed in the coming days.

Microsoft released updates to address 72 vulnerabilities in .NET and Visual Studio, .NET Framework, 3D Builder, Azure App Service, Azure Data Box Gateway, Azure DevOps, Azure Machine Learning, HoloLens, Internet Storage Name Service, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender for IoT, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office OneNote, Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver, Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL, Microsoft Windows Codecs Library, Power BI, SQL Server, Visual Studio, Windows Active Directory, Windows ALPC, Windows Common Log File System Driver, Windows Cryptographic Services, Windows Distributed File System (DFS), Windows Fax and Scan Service, Windows HTTP.sys, Windows Installer, Windows iSCSI, Windows Kerberos, Windows MSHTML Platform, Windows ODBC Driver, Windows Protected EAP (PEAP), Windows SChannel, Windows Win32K, and MSRT (~2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for macOS Big Sur 11.7.3, macOS Monterey 12.6.3, macOS Ventura 13.2.1, iOS 12.5.7, iOS 15.7.3, iOS 16.3.1, iPadOS 15.7.3, iPadOS 16.3.1, Safari 16.3.1, tvOS 16.3.2 and watchOS 9.3.1. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 12.5.7, 15.7.3, and 16.3.1 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15.7.3 and 16.3.1 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 9.3.1 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

tvOS 16.3.2 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 109.0.5414.125 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

elementary OS 7.0 is a new major version of elementary OS improving app management, controls, defaults, and many other bug fixes. This is not a security update.
https://elementary.io/

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Ventura (13.x) means that macOS Catalina (10.15) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Big Sur (11) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

The now-current release of the Windows 11 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 11 pushes you to get the latest Windows 11 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 24 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Windows 11 is still very young so I encourage you to wait a few more months before you consider switching to it.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.6.0 updates installer, adds option to update driver source to default, and improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

DS4Windows 3.2.8 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/releases/latest

Garmin Express 7.16.1 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/

JACK2 1.9.22 improves compatibility, removes example tools, updates dependencies, and resolves a couple bugs. This is a security update.
https://jackaudio.org/downloads/

NVcleanstall 1.15.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-nvcleanstall/

Drivers by Seagull 2023.1 adds support for over 200 new printer models from 20 vendors, RFID unique serial numbers (TID), and updates the license.
https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/

Wacom Driver 6.4.1-3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.wacom.com/en-us/support/product-support/drivers

Xerox Smart Start 1.8.10.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/content/143617

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.48.158 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 110.0.5481.100 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 110.0.1587.41 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 110.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

SeaMonkey 2.53.15 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 5.6.2867.62 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

ProtonMail (Android) 3.0.11 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://proton.me/mail/download

Spark 3.3.3.42970 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Spark (macOS) 3.3.3.42968 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Thunderbird 102.7.2 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

AnyDesk 7.1.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

AnyDesk (macOS) 7.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

BrowsingHistoryView 2.54 adds whitespace around the QR codes. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html

Dropbox 167.4.4719 resolves several bugs and improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Facebook Messenger 176.0.0.12.101 is a security update.
https://www.messenger.com/download

FileZilla Client 3.63.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FileZilla Server 1.6.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 12.0 is a major update and adds several new security profiles, improves timeouts, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 71.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

IPInfoOffline 1.61 resolves a crash bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/ip_country_info_offline.html

Java 8u361 is a security update.
https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Microsoft Teams 1.6.00.376 adds several new features. This is not a security update.
https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads

Nextcloud Server 25.0.3 is a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Omada Software Controller 5.8.4 adds global view, mapping, and adds several other features. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Pocketnet-GUI 0.8.39 adds P2P audio and video calls, improved GUI confirmations, and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://pocketnet.app/

Signal 6.5.1 resolves a crash bug. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Signal (Android) 6.10.9 improves display of activity. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/android/apk/

Skype 8.93.0.404 improves translator, color schemes, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Syncthing 1.23.1 resolves an upgrade bug. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Telegram 4.6.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Telegram (Android) 9.4.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://telegram.org/apps

WinSCP 5.21.7 updates Batch Rename extension and resolves a settings change bug. This is not a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.13.7.12602 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

BasicSR 1.4.2 adds torch and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/XPixelGroup/BasicSR/releases/latest

Kodi 20.0 implements over 500 changes. This is a security update.
https://kodi.tv/

Plex Desktop 1.63.3.3523 resolves audio passthrough. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.33.2.3525 resolves audio passthrough. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.31.0.6654 improves season and episode detection, end credit marker detection, scanner, and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-media-server

Real-ESRGAN-ncnn-vulkan 0.2.0 is a security update.
https://github.com/xinntao/Real-ESRGAN-ncnn-vulkan/releases/latest

TuneIn 1.26.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://tunein.com/radio/home/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

GameMaker Studio 2023.1.0.58 improves installation experience, performance and image editing. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

GDevelop 5.1.157 adds new objects, improves GDevelop banner behavior, asynchronous objects, updates libraries and extensions. This is not a security update.
https://gdevelop.io/download

Lego Studio 2.23.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd

Playstation PS5 22.02-06.50.00 adds support for the DualSense Edge wireless controller and improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2023.02.10 resolves dozens of bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Adobe Reader DC 22.003.20314 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe After Effects 23.2 and 22.6.4 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb23-02.html

Adobe Connect 11.4.6 and 12.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb23-05.html

Adobe FrameMaker 2020.5 and 2022.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/framemaker/apsb23-06.html

Adobe Bridge 12.0.4 and 13.0.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/bridge/apsb23-09.html

Adobe Photoshop 23.5.4 and 24.1.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb23-11.html

Adobe InDesign 18.2 and 17.4.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb23-12.html

Adobe Premiere Rush 2.7 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_rush/apsb23-14.html

Adobe Animate 22.0.9 and 23.0.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb23-15.html

Adobe Substance 3D Stager 2.0.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/substance3d_stager/apsb23-16.html

Audacity 3.2.4 resolves a functional bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

LibreOffice 7.4.5 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.5.0 resolves over 250 bugs. This is a security update. Be aware that the Fresh line is beta software and should be avoided in favor of the Still line above.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.7.3 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.4.9 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Paint.net 5.0.1 is a major update to Paint.net, adds several features, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

Calibre 6.12.0 adds read-aloud, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

Kindle for PC 1.40.65415 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.amazon.com/kindleforpc

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Chainsaw 2.3.1 resolves a panic bug. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

DNSQuerySniffer 1.91 resolves stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/dns_query_sniffer.html

HTTP Toolkit 1.12.3 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://httptoolkit.tech/

KeePass 2.53.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware 4.5.22 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Mac 4.18.11 resolves a couple bugs and removes the built-in browser. This is a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

OpenSSL 1.1.1t is a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

OpenSSL 3.0.8 is a security update.
https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

ProtonVPN (macOS) 3.0.13 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

RogueKiller 15.8.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Tails 5.9 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

uBlock Origin 1.47.0 resolves several bugs and improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Camtasia 22.5.0 adds several new transitions, improved recorder, and several other tools. This is not a security update.
https://www.techsmith.com/video-editor.html

Open Broadcaster Software 29.0.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://obsproject.com/

ScreenToGif 2.37.2 adds translations. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 23.0.3 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.9.9 adds support for new encodings, improves compatibility and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

HandBrake 1.6.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

iMazing HEIC Converter 2.0.5 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://imazing.com/heic

MakeMKV 1.17.3 adds support for new encodings and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://www.makemkv.com/download/

StreamFab 6.1.0.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/downloader-new.htm

UniFab 1.0.1.2 resolves a couple bugs and adds support to merge. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/unifab.htm

Education updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Zotero 6.0.20 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Zotero (macOS) 6.0.21 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 8.9.15 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 8.9.14 adds support to import directly from LastPass. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

8GadgetPack 36.0 updates outdated gadgets. This is not a security update.
https://8gadgetpack.net/

Agent Ransack 2022.3366 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

Beyond Compare 4.4.5.27371 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

Bitwarden 2023.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 6.09.10300 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

CPU-Z Installer 2.04 adds support for new hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

CurrPorts 2.66 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html

Cygwin 3.4.6 improves compatibility and stability. This should be treated as a security update.
https://cygwin.com/

Dell Command Update 4.8.0 improves BIOS update, self-update, and toast behaviors. This is a security update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln311129/dell-command-update?lang=en

DesktopOK 10.66 improves auto save icons feature. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.14.3 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything Toolbar 1.0.2 improves performance, reliability and cosmetics. This is a security update.
https://github.com/stnkl/EverythingToolbar/

Fido 1.43 adds BITS transfer support. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

FileLocator Pro 2022.3366 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

Git SCM 2.39.1 is a security update.
https://git-scm.com/

Go 1.20.1 updates the toolchain and improves performance. This is a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 12.1.7 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

grepWin 2.0.13 adds ability to copy column content, and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stefankueng/grepWin/releases/latest

HWMonitor 1.49 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Memtest86+ 6.10 adds support for Secure Boot signing, headless EFI, various command line options, new hardware and resolves several bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.memtest.org/

NetworkTrafficView 2.43 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_traffic_view.html

NTLite 2.3.9.9039 updates components and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OSForensics 10.0.1007 improves case management, VM reporting, and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/download.html

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.14.0 improves safety of move/resize, resolves several bugs, and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PointerStick 6.22 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

PowerToys 0.67.1 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

PSAppDeploy 3.9.2 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/

ScreenConnect 23.1.1.8423 improves compatibility, adds several cosmetic changes, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

SearchMyFiles 3.23 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html

Sysmon 14.14 resolves a timeout detected deleted files. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TeamViewer 15.38.3 resolves a file resume bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unified Remote Server 3.13.0.2501 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.unifiedremote.com/

Unity 2022.2.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

Ventoy 1.0.88 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

WhyNotWin11 2.5.0.4 updates hardware compatibility lists. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

WinGet 1.4.10173 resolves over a hundred bugs and improves stability. This is a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

WinRAR 6.20 resolves over 20 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.rarlab.com/

ZoomIt 6.12 resolves a cosmetic artifact bug when zooming. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/zoomit

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ADB 34.0.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools

Android Studio 2022.1.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

GitHub Desktop 3.1.6 updates libraries, resolves several bugs, and improves compatibility. This is a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

GitHub includefragment 6.1.1 adds refetch API. This is not a security update.
https://github.github.io/include-fragment-element/

MySQL Server 8.0.32 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/

MySQL ConnectorNet 8.0.32 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/

Node.js 19.6.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.14.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Redemption 6.3.0.6164 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dimastr.com/redemption/

Rustup 1.25.2 adds SHA-1 support again. This is not a security update.
https://www.rust-lang.org/

TortoiseGit 2.14.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://tortoisegit.org/

Visual Studio Code 1.75.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 7.0.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Drupal 9.4.11 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Joomla 4.2.7 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

ownCloud Client 3.1.0.9872 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://owncloud.com/desktop-app/

phpList 3.6.12 updates dependencies and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

phpMyAdmin 5.2.1 is a security update.
https://www.phpmyadmin.net/

Piwigo 13.5.0 is a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

Antispam Bee 2.11.2 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/antispam-bee/

Autoptimize 3.1.5 improves compatibility and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/autoptimize/

Contact Form 7 5.7.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

Duplicator 1.5.2.1 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/#developers

myStickymenu 2.6.2 improves flow. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mystickymenu/

Postie 1.9.65 removes uname support. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

Redirection 5.3.9 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/

W3 Total Cache 2.3.0 improves compatibility and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

WooCommerce 7.3.0 resolves almost 100 bugs. This is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WPtouch 4.3.48 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/

Updates 2023-01-10

Happy New Year, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for January, 2023.

This month brings over 200 application updates and over 100 major hacks. It’s the lightest month we’ve seen in a while, with only about 3 GB of updates for most users.

This Month in Technology

3Commas, Aetna ACE, Antwerp, Belgium, Argonne (ANL), Astro, Avem Health Partners, Azienda Ospedaliera di Alessandria hospital, Bay City Health & Rehabilitation Center, Benchmark, BetMGM, BitKeep crypto wallet users, BMW, Bosselman Energy, Inc. Employee Health Benefits Plan, Brookhaven (BNL), BTC.com, CA Department of Finance, Captify Health, Careportal, Chick-fil-A, CircleCI, Citrix ADC and Gateway, CoinTracker, Comcast Xfinity, Consulate Health Care, Copper Mountain Mining Corporation, Cott Systems, Deezer, Degroof Petercam, Digipolis, DoorDash, Empresas Públicas de Medellín, FBI’s InfraGard, Fitzgibbon Hospital, Five Guys, Flying Blue, Foundcare, Inc., FuboTV, Gemini crypto exchange, Ghost CMS, GitHub auth, Google Home smart speaker, Grupo Estrategas EMM, H-Hotels, Hawaiian Eye Center, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp, Intrado, John F. Kennedy International Airport taxi dispatch system, JsonWebToken, Kubernetes clusters, L. Knife & Son, Inc. Employee Benefits Plan, Lake Charles Memorial Health System, LastPass (“most” data was encrypted), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL), Legacy Hospice, LEGO BrickLink, Live Oak Surgery Center, Louis A. Johnson Veterans’ Administration Medical Center, Mango Markets, Maternal & Family Health Services, Maybank, Medicare, MedStar Mobile Healthcare, Mercedes, 60,000+ Microsoft Exchange servers, Midwest Orthopaedic Consultants, S.C., Monarch, Netgear WiFi routers, New Vision Dental, Okta, Port of Lisbon Administration, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System, PyTorch, Quality Behavioral Health, Queensland University of Technology, Rackspace, SAIF Corp, Sargent & Lundy, SevenRooms, Shibuya Ward office in Tokyo, Slack, SlideTeam, Social Blade, Synology, Telas Palo Grande, The Elizabeth Hospice, The Guardian, The Malaysian Election Commission, Three Rivers Provider Network, Toyota, TPG Telecom Ltd, Twitter, Uber, UK Schools, UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Ukrainian Government (because they pirated Windows), Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, Universidad De La Salle, University of Havana, University of Miami, Verisma Systems, Inc., VSCode Marketplace, Wabtec Corporation, Windows Problem Reporting, YITH WooCommerce Gift Cards Premium, and Zoho ManageEngine have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

ChatGPT, the latest AI designed to make humanity obsolete, is already being used to develop malwareAdobe is using your content to train their AI. 

Microsoft still hasn’t gone all-in on Windows 11. Google Chrome (and all other Chromium-based browsers – Edge, Brave, Vivaldi and so on) will no longer support Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or Server 2012/2012 R2 in only a month. The latest build of iTunes is not compatible with the end-to-end encryption feature on iOS/iPadOS.

The only government caught bombing people not party to the Russo-Ukrainian war says cyberattacks should be considered war crimes. The FTC is planning to kill the US economy, while the FCC has decided to regulate space.

Now for the good news:

Almost every ‘conspiracy theory‘ that people had about twitter turned out to be true. The FBI has seized domains involved in DDoS attacks.

John Deere will finally allow farmers to repair their own equipment. This is a major movement in conjunction with the Right to Repair, and could save farmers millions on production expenses.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday is huge this month. The typical computer should see roughly 3
GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Windows 11 22H2 still isn’t ready for prime time, so hold off for at least another month.

Microsoft released updates to address 90 vulnerabilities in .NET Core, 3D Builder, Azure Service Fabric Container, Microsoft Bluetooth Driver, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Local Security Authority Server (lsasrv), Microsoft Message Queuing, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Office Visio, Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL, Visual Studio Code, Windows ALPC, Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock, Windows Authentication Methods, Windows Backup Engine, Windows Bind Filter Driver, Windows BitLocker, Windows Boot Manager, Windows Credential Manager, Windows Cryptographic Services, Windows DWM Core Library, Windows Error Reporting, Windows Event Tracing, Windows IKE Extension, Windows Installer, Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol, Windows iSCSI, Windows Kernel, Windows Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol, Windows LDAP – Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, Windows Local Security Authority (LSA), Windows Local Session Manager (LSM), Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, Windows Management Instrumentation, Windows MSCryptDImportKey, Windows NTLM, Windows ODBC Driver, Windows Overlay Filter, Windows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Windows Print Spooler Components, Windows Remote Access Service L2TP Driver, Windows RPC API, Windows Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), Windows Smart Card, Windows Task Scheduler, Windows Virtual Registry Provider, Windows Workstation Service and MSRT (~1.5 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Google Chrome OS 108.0.5359.172 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Ventura (13.x) means that macOS Catalina (10.15) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Big Sur (11) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

The now-current release of the Windows 11 (v22H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 11 pushes you to get the latest Windows 11 release every 12 months and only supports any consumer builds for 24 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Windows 11 is still very young so I encourage you to wait a few more months before you consider switching to it.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

DS4Windows 3.2.3 resolves a bug with the Shift Modifier trigger. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/releases/latest

Nvidia Driver 474.11 is a security update.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Xerox Smart Start 1.7.71.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/content/143617

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.46.153 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 108.0.5359.124 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 108.0.1462.76 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 108.0.2 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Vivaldi 5.6.2867.50 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Mailspring 1.10.8 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://getmailspring.com/

Spark 3.2.2.40861 improves stability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Spark (macOS) 3.2.2.40859 improves stability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Thunderbird 102.6.1 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

AnyDesk 7.1.7 improves command-line controls and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.87.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 164.4.7914 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Facebook Messenger 172.0.0.28.215 is a security update.
https://www.messenger.com/download

FreeFileSync 11.29 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 69.0 is a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Npcap 1.72 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Prosody 0.12.2 is a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

Rclone 1.61.1 adds several new features and resolves many bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Signal (Android) 6.6.3 doesn’t provide a public changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://signal.org/android/apk/

Signal 6.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Skype 8.91.0.404 adds automatic audio translation. Really. This is not a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Syncthing 1.23.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Telegram 4.5.3 resolves a bug. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Zoom 5.13.4.11835 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Bitwig Studio 4.4.6 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.bitwig.com/download/

darktable 4.2.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/

iTunes 12.12.7.1 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Kodi 19.5 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://kodi.tv/

Plex Desktop 1.60.1.3413 improves album art and Discover behavior, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.31.1.3412 improves album art and adds an option to dismiss Discover What to Watch. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Unreal Media Server 15.0 improves streaming capabilities. This is a security update.
http://www.umediaserver.net/umediaserver/download.html

Winamp 5.9.1.10029 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.winamp.com/player/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

GameMaker Studio 2022.11.1.56 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

GDevelop 5.1.155 integrates direct access to the Asset Store and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://gdevelop.io/download

Steam 2023.12.01 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Adobe Reader DC 22.003.20310 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Acrobat 22.003.20310 and 20.005.30436 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb23-01.html

Adobe InDesign 18.1 and 17.4.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb23-07.html

Adobe InCopy 18.0 and 17.4 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb23-08.html

Adobe Dimension 3.4.7 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/dimension/apsb23-10.html

Audacity 3.2.3 adds support for audio.com and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Calibre 6.11.0 adds automatic editing of CSS and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

Krita 5.1.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

Notepad++ 8.4.8 updates libraries and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

DNSQuerySniffer 1.90 adds Show High Resolution Duration option. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/dns_query_sniffer.html

Gpg4win 4.1.0 improves certificate handling and resolve several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html

HTTP Toolkit 1.12.2 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://httptoolkit.tech/

KeePass 2.53 adds keyboard controls and history and filter improvements. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware 4.5.19 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

ProtonVPN 2.3.2 adds new languages. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

ProtonVPN (macOS) 3.0.11 adds new languages. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

RogueKiller 15.6.5 resolves several bugs and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Tails 5.8 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

uBlock Origin 1.46.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Open Broadcaster Software 29.0.0 adds several new encoders and decoders, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://obsproject.com/

SnagIt 23.0.2 improves Grab Text feature and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.9.6 adds support for new encodings. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

HandBrake 1.6.0 adds several transcoding options, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

StreamFab 6.1.0.2 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/downloader-new.htm

Education updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Zotero 6.0.19 adds automatic relinking of Mendeley citations, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 8.9.12 improves reliability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 8.9.12 improves reliability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.13.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

Bitwarden 2022.12.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 6.07.10191 improves startup speed and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

Cygwin 3.4.3 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://cygwin.com/

Dell Command Update 4.7.1 doesn’t provide release notes for this build, so it should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln311129/dell-command-update?lang=en

DesktopOK 10.61 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dnGrep 3.2.242.0 adds a portable version, improves extension support, syntax highlighting, selection keys, and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

DMDE 4.0.2.804 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dmde.com/

Etcher 1.13.2 resolves several bugs and updates dependencies. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Fido 1.40 improves error handling. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

Go 1.19.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 12.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

grepWin 2.0.12 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stefankueng/grepWin/releases/latest

Homedale 2.05 improves logging and SSID reporting. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

Memtest86+ 6.01 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.memtest.org/

NetworkInterfacesView 1.26 add Interface Index column. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_interfaces.html

NTLite 2.3.9.9020 updates languages and components. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

osquery 5.7.0 provides several table updates, introduces security_profile_info, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

PowerToys 0.66.0 improves installer and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

RoboForm 9.4.1 imposes new licensing restrictions for free accounts. This is not a security update.
https://www.roboform.com/

ScreenConnect 22.10.10924.8404 adds several new security features and controls, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

Superpaper 2.2.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/hhannine/superpaper/

TeamViewer 15.37.3 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unity 2022.2.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

Ventoy 1.0.87 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

WinScan2PDF 8.41 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

ZoomText 2023 2023.2212.21.400 adds Freeze View and Early Adopter support. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

GitHub Desktop 3.1.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

NASM 2.16.01 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.nasm.us/index.php

Node.js 19.4.0 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.13.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.40.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Visual Studio Code 1.74.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PPSSPP 1.14.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://ppsspp.org/downloads.html

VMware Workstation Player 17.0.0 improves TPM, adds support for newer operating systems, adds encryption, and updates OpenGL 4.3 and WDDM 1.2. This is a security update.
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/#all_products

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.21 corrects a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Drupal 9.5.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.13.0 improves module integration, Spaces, adds Open Graph, diagnostics and several other features. This is not a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

ISPConfig 3.2.9 adds 2FA and support for latest Ubuntu, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ispconfig.org/ispconfig/download/

jQuery 3.6.3 resolves the CSS.supports selector bug. This is not a security update.
https://code.jquery.com/

Piwigo 13.4.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

SpamAssassin 4.0.0 is a major update adding full Unicode support, parsing for many more URL forms and TLDs, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://spamassassin.apache.org/downloads.cgi

BuddyPress 11.0.0 improves performance, adds webp support, and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Contact Form 7 5.7.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

Social Post Feed 4.1.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

Postie 1.9.63 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

Raw HTML 1.6.4 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/raw-html/

Register IP – Multisite 1.9.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/register-ip-multisite/

WooCommerce 7.2.2 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WP Mail SMTP 3.7.0 improves cleanup and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/

WP Update Server 2.0.1 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/YahnisElsts/wp-update-server

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/

Updates 2022-01-11

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for January, 2022.

It’s a big one. This month has been insane. There’s always a surge in hacking events near holidays, but this month had almost double the *known* hacking events from previous months. What’s worse is that many of the vulnerabilities used were known weeks and sometimes years in advance, though the patches were not yet installed or the specific applications and services were simply not being maintained or secured. Grrrr.

This Month in Technology

A New Leaf, Inc., Advocate Aurora HealthAlabama Department of Rehabilitation ServicesAll in One SEOAmediaAndrew Sauchelli, DMDApache httpdApple Blossom Family PracticeAzure App ServiceBansley and Kiener (B&K), Belgium’s MilitaryBernalillo CountyBioPlus Specialty Pharmacy Services LLCBrazil’s Health MinistryBroward HealthC.E. Niehoff & CompanyChaddockCiox HealthCommission on ElectionsCOVID-19 Home TestsCrawford County Assessors OfficeDaniel J. Edelman Holdings, Inc., DatPiff, The De Montfort SchoolDouglas C Morrow ODPCDuneland School CorporationEvanston Township High SchoolExpresso and SICFertility Centers of Illinois, PLLC, FinalSiteFlexBookerFlorida Digestive Health Specialists LLP, Forensic Science IrelandFresenius Kabi infusion pump systemsGarrett metal detectorsGeorgia Bone & Joint Surgeons, P.C., Google Docs Comment PlatformGrass Valley, CAGumtreeH2 DatabaseHellmann Worldwide LogisticsImpresaInetum GroupiPhone 13James Kagan, MDJefferson Surgical ClinicKearsarge Regional School DistrictLastPassLog4j (several times)Loyola University Medical CenterLuxemburg-Casco School DistrictmacOS powerdirMcMenaminsMedQuest Pharmacy, Inc., Microsoft Active DirectoryMicrosoft TeamsMonkey Kingdom (via Grape), Monongalia Health System Inc., Monroe Public SchoolsMonterey Peninsula Unified School DistrictNetgear NighthawkNorthwest Broward Orthopaedics AssociatesNorth Shore Hebrew Academy High SchoolOG department storeONUSOregon Eye SpecialistsPeck & Associates, PC, Pithadia Medical Professional Services, Inc., ProtempsPulseTVQNAPRavkooRedLine StealerRhode Island Public Transit AuthorityR.R. Donnelley & SonsRunning Warehouse LLC, Sainsbury’sSaltzer HealthSaskatchewan Liquor and Gaming AuthoritySEGAShelley School DistrictShutterflySkate Warehouse LLC, Skin Care Specialty PhysiciansSotheby’s Realty’s BrightcoveSouthern Orthopaedic AssociatesSpar StoresStandard BankSuperior PlusSurgery Group SCT-MobileTackle Warehouse LLC, Tennis Warehouse LCC, Tiyuli and LametayelUAW Retiree Medical Benefits TrustUberUbisoftUK Defence AcademyUltimate Kronos GroupUS Commission on International Religious FreedomUScellular, Utah Department of Health, Virginia Division of Capitol PoliceVirginia General AssemblyVolvoWalgreen Co., WD MyCloudWelfare, Pension and Annuity Funds of Local No. ONE, I.A.T.S.E., and Zoho UEM have been hacked.

Norton 360 is now opting you in for their CPU cryptomining if you have their software installed. The very same software designed to protect you from evildoers that would take advantage of your computer to do this kind of thing…is now doing it. Apple has released an Android app under the auspice of helping users discover Tracker devices that might be tracking them…by enabling your device to allow them to communicate with the Apple Tracker network. Firefox still doesn’t properly support OCSP stapling. Dell BIOS updates are crashing devices. Microsoft has integrated their own financing platform into Edge.

Microsoft rang in the new year by breaking Microsoft Exchange (on-prem) for every server that had filtering enabled (almost all of them). Microsoft acknowledged the problem about 20 hours after it began and released resolution steps by deleting and rebuilding the scanning engine about 31 hours after it began. Sonicwall, too.

CloudflareAWS, Twitch, Zoom, PSN, Slack, Hulu, Imgur have had extended outages this month.

Please, for all that is holy, check your backups!

Phishing is an ever-growing problem. Sophos reminds us how to check for scams like this.

Now for the good news:

Mozilla has added Secure DNS to Firefox, now enabled by default. Unfortunately, this bypasses DNS filtering options you may have assigned yourself – so if you use Firefox you’ll need to enable your own DoH URLs within the settings.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is pretty big. The typical computer should see roughly 3 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for.NET Framework, Microsoft Dynamics, Edge, Exchange Server, Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Active Directory, CLFS, Windows Cryptographic Services, Windows Defender, DirectX, Windows Installer, Windows RDP, Windows Remote Desktop, ReFS, Windows Security Center, Windows Storage Spaces, Windows Tile Data Repository, Windows UEFI, Windows User Profile Service, and MSRT (~2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for Safari 15.2. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

Google Chrome OS 96.0.4664.111 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Monterey (12.x) means that macOS Mojave (10.14) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Catalina (10.15) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v21H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

The now-current release of the Windows 11 (v21H2) is very large so will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 11 pushes you to get the latest Windows 11 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 24 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process will kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Windows 11 is still very young so I encourage you to wait a few more months before you consider switching to it.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.4.7 removes support for Vista, updates libraries, and improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.34.80 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 97.0.4692.71 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 97.0.1072.55 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 96.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 91.5.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Iridium 2021.12.96 is a security update.
https://iridiumbrowser.de/

SeaMonkey 2.53.10.2 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 5.0.2497.35 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Thunderbird 91.5.0 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

AnyDesk (macOS) 6.4.0 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.81.0 is a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 139.4.4896 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Server 1.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.16 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Omada Software Controller 5.0.29 is a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Prosody 0.11.11 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://prosody.im/download/start

Syncthing 1.18.6 improves usability. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Telegram 3.4.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Zoom 5.9.1.2581 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

darktable 3.8.0 makes nearly 4,000 changes including performance, bug fixes, new hardware support and more. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/install/

Picard 2.7.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

TuneIn 1.25.0 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://tunein.com/radio/home/

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2022.12.16 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://store.steampowered.com/about/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Adobe Reader DC 21.011.20039 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Acrobat and Reader 21.011.20039, 20.004.30020, and 17.011.30207 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb22-01.html

Adobe Illustrator 26.0.2 and 25.4.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb22-02.html

Adobe Bridge 12.0.1 and 11.1.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/bridge/apsb22-03.html

Adobe InCopy 16.4.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb22-04.html

Adobe InDesign 16.4.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb22-05.html

Audacity 3.1.3 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Krita 5.0.2 is a major update. This version adds several features, resolves bugs and improves stability and reliability. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.2.5 resolves almost 100 bugs. This is not a security update. The “Fresh” line is beta software and should be avoided in favor of the stable version (“Still”) by most users.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.2 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Paint.net 4.3.7 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

elementary OS 6.1
https://elementary.io/

Gpg4win 4.0.0 is a major update adding several new features and updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://www.gpg4win.org/download.html

KeePass 2.50 improves performance and generator, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

OpenSSL 1.1.1m is a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

OpenSSL 3.0.1 is a security update.
https://curl.se/windows/

OpenSSL 3.0.1 is a security update.
https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

ReactOS 0.4.13 provides over 250 bug fixes and improvements. This is not a security update.
https://reactos.org/

RogueKiller 15.1.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

Tails 4.26 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

TinyWall 3.2.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

uBlock Origin 1.40.6 improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.35.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

HandBrake 1.5.1 updates libraries, resolves several bugs and improves stability and reliability. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

IsoBuster 4.9 adds support for new hardware, new formats, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.isobuster.com/download.php

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

7-Zip 21.07 adds VHDX support, improved parameter handling and compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.7-zip.org/

Agent Ransack 2022.3283 improves performance and reliability, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.6.0 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

Autoruns 14.07 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

Active Directory Explorer 1.51 fixes a Windows Store packaging crash. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/adexplorer

CacheSet 1.02 fixes a 64 bit OS regression. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/cacheset

Beyond Compare 4.4.1.26165 resolves several bugs and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

ControlMyMonitor 1.31 adds a new parameter for Secondary displays. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

CPU-Z 1.99 adds support for new hardware and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

DesktopOK 9.51 adds dark mode. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dnGrep 2.9.482.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Etcher 1.7.3 is a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.1015 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Everything CLI 1.1.0.21 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

FileLocator Pro 2022.3283 provides performance and reliability improvements. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

GoodSync 11.10.0 resolves several bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

Homedale 2.02 improves colors. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

Macrium Reflect 8.0.6495 doesn’t provide a changelog, so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

NTLite 2.3.2.8526 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

osquery 5.1.0 adds resource limiting, new objects, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

PowerToys 0.53.1 adds several new features and resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

Process Monitor 3.87 fixes resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Samsung Magician 7.0.1 is a major update, but doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

SearchMyFiles 3.16 is a cosmetic update. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html

Sysmon 13.31 improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TeamViewer 15.25.8 fixes a VOIP bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

TraceRouteOK 2.71 updates language files. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

WifiInfoView 2.72 updates the internal MAC database and resolves a high-DPI bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

ZoomText 2022.2112.10.400 resolves several bugs and improves display. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Maraura 3.9.7 updates Java support and libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
http://arianne.sourceforge.net/engine/marauroa.html

Docker Desktop 4.3.2 updates the scan engine to detect log4j vulnerabilities. This is a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Godot 3.4.2 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Node.js 12.22.9 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.18.3 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.13.2 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 17.3.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.37.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Drupal 9.3.2 resolves a major stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.10.3 is a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

MailArchiva 8.5.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://mailarchiva.com/

ownCloud Server 10.9 is a security update.
https://owncloud.org/install/

Piwigo 12.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

ScreenConnect 21.14.5924.8013 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

SMF 2.0.19 is a security update.
https://www.simplemachines.org/

WordPress 5.8.3 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Slider Revolution 6.5.14 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

WPBakery 6.8.0 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wpbakery.com/

Autoptimize 2.9.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/autoptimize/

BuddyPress 9.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Social Post Feed 4.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/custom-facebook-feed/

Postie 1.9.59 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.3.25 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-networks-auto-poster-facebook-twitter-g/

Visual Composer 41.1 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://visualcomposer.com/

WooCommerce 6.1.0 is a major update, resolving several bugs and adding features. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WordPress Zero Spam 5.2.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/zero-spam/

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/

Updates 2021-10-12

Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for October, 2021.

This month we’ve got the new Microsoft Office, Windows 11, iOS 15, iPhone 13, and Windows Server 2022…so far. A new build of Windows 10 is still on the horizon, and a security update for Java is slated for next week. That said, Patch Tuesday this month is very large. The typical computer should see roughly 2.3 GB in updates today.

This Month in Technology

Amnesty InternationalAjarnApple AirTag, Apple Game CenterAzure DevOpsBanco PichinchaBank of AmericaBitcoin.orgBrewDog, the Canadian Vaccine Passport systemCanopy Parental ControlCoinbaseCompoundCox Media GroupCrystal ValleyDahua cams, various DVR devicesElastic StackFantasy Football HubGiant GroupForward AirHorizon HouseHuawei Cloud, various IT companiesJVCKenwoodMarketronMedtronic insulin pump controllers, Microsoft Windows Platform Binary TableMoneyLionNeiman MarcusNEW CooperativeOlympus USPacific City BankPlaybookPort of HoustonSandhills GlobalSimon Eye Management90% of the supply chainSyniverseThe TelegraphTwitch (there’s a lot of information out there about this Amazon property hack), United Health Centers, the US Navy, various aerospace and telco firms, various Apache Airflow servers, various Apache services, various Confluence servers, various hotels, various healthcare facilities, various real estate organizations, various University Wi-Fi networks, various VMware ESXi serversVertafore, and Weir Group.

The assets and financial information of 35 world leaders have been exposed in the Pandora Papers.

A Microsoft Azure customerBandwidth.com, and VoIP.ms have been struck by major denial of service attacks.

How serious are the privacy risks of RFID? The US military is using RFID to track their guns. This results in the ability to track (and target) those carrying the weapons.

How serious is ransomware? Another child has died as a result of equipment that was disabled during an attack.

The Google idle detection API can be used to abuse you only when it knows you’re not looking. For a company whose slogan was “don’t be evil,” and that has the highest paid programmers in the world, between idle detection and FLoC, they’re really proving to either not be able to anticipate the potential risks or they simply don’t care.

Firefox is now injecting ads into the address bar. Apple Pay allows hackers to take your money from your locked iPhonePhishing messages posing as Verizon are using mathematical symbols to evade detection. Intuit is warning users of phishing attacks targeting QuickBooks users. Popular projects on public repositories remain high profile targets. If you can’t trust the hacker you bought your exploit kit from, who can you trust? Sigh.

The biggest outage this month was the Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp that has lead to millions of users abandoning FacebookTrello has had a couple outages, too.

Microsoft is planning to randomly disable access to their customers to see if they’re using their services. Personally, I would just check the logs.

Microsoft 365 broke MFA again, locking users out of their accounts. And a bug in their Exchange Autodiscover implementation has leaked over a 100,000 credentials. A newly discovered UEFI bootkit has been backdooring Windows devices for almost a decade.

Google, the same company that warned of the risks of compromise through 2FA (as have many others), will be forcing 150 million accounts to use 2FA.
This is the same company that accidentally sent thousands of past due messages to their users last month. Their Android operating system is very privacy-averse, too.

A new ransomware strain doesn’t even both encrypting your files anymore, simply collecting a copy of your data and using the threat of release to extort their users.

If you’re still using a landline phone it’s probably because you don’t like change. Get ready, change is coming anyway. In order to more easily assist those having a mental health crisis, the FCC is going to require you to use full 1+10-digit dialing
when making any calls on a landline and 10-digit dialing from most mobile phones starting in late October. The intent is to make dialing a 3-digit number possible for the suicide hotline (988).

PG&E has been charged with causing yet another wildfire.

Now for the good news:

For what it’s worth, robocalls are now illegal.

Even the majority of IT professionals think patching is too hard. Don’t do it yourself, let me.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Windows 11 is out. Even if your hardware supports it, don’t install it yet. Consider it in the “open beta” phase. The new build of macOS (12.0 / Monterey) should be released sometime soon, too. The same goes for that: consider it a beta for at least the first couple months.

Patch Tuesday this month is very large. The typical computer should see roughly 2.9 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~2.3 GB). This includes updates for Windows Server 2008. This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for watchOS 8.0.1, iOS 12.5.5, iOS 15.0.2, iPadOS 15.0.2, and Security Update 2021-006 Catalina. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 15.0.2 and 12.5.5 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15.0.2 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 8.0.1 are security updates. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 93.0.4577.95 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Big Sur (11.x) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v21H1) is very large, for the first time it’s actually smaller than the previous release, but it will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.4.4 adds support for Windows 11 and improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

HP LaserJet Stub 13.4.8 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be considered a security update.
https://123.hp.com/us/en/devices/LASERJET

MS Mouse and Keyboard Center 14 adds support for newer hardware, Spotlight and improves Smart Switch. This is not a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/downloads/mouse-keyboard-center

Xerox Smart Start 1.6.26.0 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be considered a security update.
https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/content/143617

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.30.89 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 94.0.4606.81 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 94.0.992.47 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 93.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.15.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.9.1 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 4.3.2439.44 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

OutlookAttachView 3.43 adds hi-DPI support and improves sorting behavior. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_attachment.html

Thunderbird 91.2.0 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Telegram 3.1.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

curl 7.79.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 132.4.3800 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.56.0 is a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

Omada Software Controller 4.4.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Rclone 1.56.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Syncthing 1.18.3 improves reliability and resolves a cosmetic bug. This should be treated as a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Technitium DNS Server 7.0 is a major update to the API and Apps feature, each of the Apps, adds several more Apps, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

WGet 1.21.2 is a security update.
https://eternallybored.org/misc/wget/

WinSCP 5.19.3 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.8.1.1435 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

iTunes 12.12.1.1 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Picard 2.6.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/

Plex Desktop 1.35.1.2632 corrects a couple minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PlayStation PS5 21.02-04.02.00 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2021.10.07 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Artweaver 7.0.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.artweaver.de/

Audacity 3.0.5 resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Blender 2.93.5 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.2.1 resolves over 80 bugs. This is not a security update. The “Fresh” line is beta software and should be avoided in favor of the “Still” line.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Still 7.1.6 resolves over 40 bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.3.5 improves security. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.1.5 adds date insertion and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

OpenOffice 4.1.11 is a security update.
https://www.openoffice.org/download/

Adobe Reader DC 21.007.20099 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Adobe Acrobat DC 21.007.20099 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-104.html

Adobe Connect 11.2.3 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb21-91.html

Adobe Reader Mobile 21.9.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/reader-mobile/apsb21-89.html

Adobe ops-cli 2.0.5 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/ops_cli/apsb21-88.html

Adobe Commerce 2.4.3-p1 and 2.3.7-p2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/magento/apsb21-86.html

Adobe Campaign 21.3.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/campaign/apsb21-52.html

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

PureOS 10.0 is a security update.
https://pureos.net/download/

Tails 4.23 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

OnionShare 2.4 is a security update.
https://onionshare.org/

RogueKiller 15.1.1 is a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

TinyWall 3.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tinywall.pados.hu/

uBlock Origin 1.38.4 resolves Twitch filtering and important filters. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

ScreenToGif 2.34 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

HandBrake 1.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.9 adds the ability to “securely” share a link with others. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 7.9.822 adds the ability to “securely” share a link with others. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

Autoruns 14.03 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

Bitwarden 1.28.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

ControlMyMonitor 1.29 adds the ability to set font options. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/control_my_monitor.html

dnGrep 2.9.400.0 improves bookmarks and adds option to hide missing files in Everything search. This is not a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Etcher 1.6.0 adds basic auth support and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything CLI 1.1.0.20 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.26 adds Windows 11 downloads. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

Fing 2.7.0 adds user-presence tracking, improves the security tab, and updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.fing.com/products/fing-desktop-download-windows

GoodSync 11.8.6 resolves several bugs, updates certificates and libraries. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

Homedale 1.99 resolves a privacy bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

NTLite 2.3.0.8394 updates libraries and assignment options. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

Aomei Partition Assistant 9.4.1 adds Windows 11 compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

PowerToys 0.47.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

Process Monitor 3.85 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Samsung Magician 7.0.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/

TCPView 4.15 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/tcpview

TeamViewer 15.22.3 improves chat notification and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

WhyNotWin11 2.4.2.1 improves compatibility and accuracy. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

Windows 11 RCT 1.2.1 updates libraries and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://bytejams.com/

WinGet 1.1.12653 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

WizTree 4.03 improves reliability, and improves details when loading exports. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskanalyzer.com/

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Godot 3.3.4 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Node.js 12.22.7 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 14.18.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.11.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.61 adds split views, improved locking, new decorations, improved pair guides and more. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PPSSPP 1.12.2 adds support for Android 12, scoped storage, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://ppsspp.org/downloads.html

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.15 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Dada Mail 11.16.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dadamailproject.com/

Docker Desktop 4.1.1 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.2.7 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

MailArchiva 8.3.2 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://mailarchiva.com/

Nextcloud Server 22.2.0 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

phpList 3.6.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

ScreenConnect 21.13.5058.7951 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

Slider Revolution 6.5.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

Akismet 4.2.1 resolves an AMP validation bug. This is not a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.5.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.3.23 is a security update.

Sucuri Security 1.8.30 is now a non-GoDaddy project. This is not a security update.

Visual Composer 39.1 resolves a cosmetic bug. This is not a security update.
https://visualcomposer.com/

WooCommerce 5.7.1 reverts a path change bug. This is not a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 3.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/

 

Updates 2021-09-14

Welcome back, Folks!

This is for Patch Tuesday for September, 2021.

I’m running late with the newsletter this month. I needed to focus on our clients since there was simply so much to do. In the typical month we usually see 85-90 updated applications (some several times). This month there have been over 160. An increase in application release frequency is typical when other major software releases are impending, and the next month will bring Windows 11, iOS 15, a new build of Windows 10, a new version of Microsoft Office, iPhone 13, and Windows Server 2022.

This Month in Technology

AccentureApple devices, and Apple iCloudAT&T (more than once), various airline and IAB staffBangkok AirwaysBanksyBeaumont HealthBlackbaud (more information about a previous hack), Boston Public LibraryBrooklyn Technical High SchoolCampbell Conroy & O’Neil, P.C., Chase Bank, thousands of Coinbase accountsComcast/Xfinity remotes29% increase in attacks targeting the education sector, Cream FinanceDallas Police DepartmentDallas School DistrictDesert Wells Family MedicineDuPage Medical GroupEpikEskyFunFordForHousing and Liberty, over 80,000 Fortinet FortiGate VPN devices, Fortinet FortiWebFortress Home Security, the French Visa ProgramGuntrader (including data of over 100,000 UK gunowners), Howard UniversityHP Omen HubIndiana Department of Health (Contact Tracing System), ImavexEvin (Iranian Prison), JenkinsJohn Deere, JP Morgan Chase, over 1,200 K-12 schoolsKaseya UnitrendsLithuanian Ministry of Foreign AffairsMarketron60,000 domains with MarkMonitorMcDonald’sMemorial Health SystemMicrosoft Power Apps (38 million records!), MikroTik routersMyRepublicNEW Cooperative, a NY Credit UnionOlympusParallels DesktopPeterborough, New HampshireRazer mouse driver (and pretty much all other drivers), Republican Governors AssociationRevere HealthSAC WirelessSonic, various NAS drivesPayPal is sharing user data and transactions with the ADL, pNetworkRazorPayvarious routers from over a dozen vendors, various Russian phonesSouth Africa’s Department of JusticeSpotify data leak, Syracuse UniversityT-MobileTexas GOPTokio Marine, the United NationsUPS, the US Census, the US State Department, hundreds of US financial systems, almost half of all US hospitals, dozens of US government websites, the US Terrorist Screening CenterValveWalgreens, the WordPress Gutenberg Template Library Plugin, and Zoho ManageEngine have been hacked this month.

I separated the Microsoft-specific hacks this month mostly to shame them. The month they claim that “the cloud” is more secure they should absolutely have their noses rubbed in it. Microsoft suffered from yet another nasty, epic, world-wide Exchange attack, but defended their own hosted product by claiming “Microsoft’s Office 365 wasn’t swept up in the breach because it runs in the cloud, which offers more protection,” even though only hours later a critical vulnerability in Microsoft’s Azure Cosmos DB service was confirmed — one of the largest cloud hacks of all time, affecting thousands of service providers. The vulnerability existed for months, so there’s simply no way to know if your accounts were compromised or if permanent access to any victim’s Microsoft Azure services occurred months prior, and Microsoft patched it only two weeks before making the claim above that “the cloud…offers more protection.” As if hammering the point home, yet another series of vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Azure cloud services were discovered this week which expose millions more endpoints, with thousands already infected. Microsoft’s 365 Cloud PCIIS, Microsoft Teams event data, WSL, and MSHTML used by Microsoft Office have all been hacked this month. Microsoft’s PrintNightmare still isn’t over. In fact, the “fix” breaks printing and printer installation on at least 5% of computers. To top it all off, with all of these incidents they are removing features and they still feel their software is worth a 20% price increase based on the improved security and reliability of their products. Sigh.

The Ragnarok ransomware gang has released a master decryption key. So has REvil (accidentally).

The US Senate is working to make encryption meaningless. Facebook is, too. And Facebook just got slapped by the German Supreme Court for violating free speech rights in Germany. Hypocrisy is their codeword. Facebook actually hid their transparency report. That kinda says it all, doesn’t it? If not, then Apple “considering” removing Facebook for their ties to human trafficking should at least raise an eyebrow. Really, the question should be, why didn’t they? Google geofence warrants are up 1,167%.

Anyone can post a job for any company on LinkedIn. A new fake Captcha tricks the user into keeping malware. ProtonMail, once a beacon of hope for privacy advocates, has shared IP addresses and device information of a user in violation of their own privacy assertions.

Dogfooding is usually a good thing. Not always.

On hardware – GPU-level malware is a thing. Hacking strict hardware security through a silly design flaw. ASUS has made a few serious mistakes with their $2,000 GeForce RTX graphics cards. If you ever wondered why you shouldn’t borrow someone’s charging cable or wall wart, wonder no more. Samsung has acknowledged that they can disable any Samsung TV using a “feature” (read: backdoor) installed on all their televisions. Do you think they limited this “feature” to their TVs?

Apple is still pushing their Jedi Mind Tricks. They want you to use your phone as your ID, but a recent iOS update even broke the “phone” part of iPhones. Why would anyone trust their identity to their phones?

The Epic v Apple case finally has a ruling. One of the two most significant issues, that Apple forbade any payments not through the App Store, was (rightly) ruled illegal. All other counts were dismissed. It’s being appealed, of course. This could cost Apple a huge chunk of a $20+ billion pie. There are some great reads from discovery. South Korea has passed a new law with similar implicationsEpic v Google is really shaping up.

Be careful how you treat your employees – they might turn out to be the “evil insider” for a ransomware gang.

If you’re a government employee and the scope of your abuse was just to use your boss’s computer then you’re really thinking small potatoes.

Oh, and don’t photograph the moon. You might get sued by UMG.

All technology carries risk, but Wi-Fi is probably the most significant risk to your privacy.

Microsoft broke OneDrive for Business, has some major issues with Outlook 365 right now, and VoIP.ms has been extorted by a DDoS attack.

Apple has dropped it’s lawsuit against Corellium over virtual iPhones, lost their Optis trial, and settled with small developers who publish on the App Store, but it still in bed with Big Brother. The US is pushing a bill right now to prevent App Stores from being the sole source of apps and content for their platforms and the EU is pushing for a minimum of seven years of hardware support.

There is no Section 230 in Australia…and it shows. Until social media companies are slapped by the Supreme Court, they will continue to get away with acting on behalf of government while claiming to be independent.

Since nobody is working “full time” anyway, they’re planning to force employers to cut their hours even more.

A federal court has ruled that the HHS can not force doctors to perform transgender surgeries or abortions. If you were concerned about the damage someone might do to your wedding cake, why would you want them holding a scalpel between your legs?

When the MSM has to resort to blatant lies to support their position and the people eat it up you have to acknowledge that they’re the enemy of honesty. The only real pandemic is a curious series of deaths only affecting those leaders opposed to mandates and ignoring the blatantly obvious data. This isn’t the first time. Sadly, absolute fraud passes for science today. There really are proven treatments available.

The science behind face masks demonstrates that this has never been an honest conversation. Instead, politicized (and ineffective) tests and treatments are more lethal
than the disease. Those required to do so are failing or simply refusing to report injuries (does this mean they lose protection under NVICP?) and the events that are reported still resemble a certain climate change “hockey stick.” They’re maliciously and negligently ignoring the dataactual health and safety concernscommitting fraud, and cherry-picking sources so they can make tiktok videos. They’re intentionally falsifying data to coerce and terrorize the publicGeorge Orwell would be proud. The spews media, and by extension, their loyal vidiots, aren’t interested in the truth. They mindlessly supportJab Crow,” racism, rape, tyranny, dehumanizing people, and sweep the scandals under the rug with their massive propaganda machine.

If they were honest and their goals were actually in line with reality, then isolation and replication would be required *before* the creation of a cure, but they’re still pushing tests that can’t distinguish Coronavirus from Influenza. The “vaccines” intentionally, permanently alter your DNA. Claims of effectiveness have repeatedly been disproven, as have their false claims of FDA licenseapproval.” So they push illegal mandates that aren’t intended to protect your health, even going so far as to ban students from online classesPoliticians ignoring mathematics isn’t really anything new. Especially when there’s animportantagendaIt’s time for a human rights commission for war crimes over this bio weapon. After all, more servicemembers have died from the vaccines than the disease.

The anti-privacy passports are not designed to prove you’re immune. They’re not designed to prove you’re not a carrier.

Whether there’s sufficient evidence to determine the cause of any deaths over the last 18 months, one thing is sure: Science no longer has any validity.

At least some regions are waking up to the insanity of a group of super-governmental multi-national corporations with total immunity from any and all liability. Or elseIt’s time to opt out.

The FBI admits no one (else!) orchestrated the Jan 6 protest. Nevertheless, it was, according to “experts,” the darkest day in American history. (And they don’t mean the subsequent human rights violations.) Odd that the same agenda is unfolding through Big Pharma.

A real President doesn’t abandon their people, or commit war crimes when they’re embarrassed, the Speaker shouldn’t be silencing the names of those who died on their watch, and the FCC, the FDA, OSHA, and other government agencies should actually study what they approve. Companies that only answer to consumers do.

Only after the last year of humans treating other humans as trash, and validating it by dumbing down the rest, could a flight attendant say, matter-of-factly, that “we don’t follow federal law” and expect her victim to just roll over and comply.

It makes perfect sense, then, that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence would be labeled “harmful content” by the National Archives. Not to be outdone, the UK – once the standard to measure an open press – will now punish reporters who “embarrass” the government with up to 14 years in prison.

Now for the good news:

Inexpensive batteries are on the horizon and Starlink satellites are being fitted with lasers.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is huge. The typical computer should see roughly 3.5 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, Servicing Stack, Internet Explorer, and MSRT (~2.5 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iOS 15 and 14.8, iPadOS 15 and 14.8, tvOS 15, macOS Big Sur 11.6, watchOS 8 and 7.6.2, Safari 15, Safari 14.1.2, Xcode 13, iTunes 12.12 for Windows and Security Update 2021-005 Catalina. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 15 and 14.8 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15 and 14.8 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 8 and 7.6.2 are security updates. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

tvOS 15 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 93.0.4577.63 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the most current version. A reboot is required.

Don’t forget to check your mobile devices, too! Many updates will also apply to your tablet, phone, kindle or television – so check your device-appropriate App Store and install updates.

Important Notes

Everything above this section should be checked by everyone on every computer. Chances are good that close to every single computer you touch will be affected by those updates. This is not the case with the items below, though you should still check each line item below to see if it applies to software you have installed.

The release of macOS Big Sur (11.x) means that macOS High Sierra (10.13) and older are no longer supported. If you can not install at least macOS Mojave (10.14) on your Mac then you should immediately remove it from the Internet and use it offline only. It will no longer receive patches or updates and can now no longer be secured.

The now-current release of the Windows 10 (v21H1) is very large, for the first time it’s actually smaller than the previous release, but it will take a long time to download on slower connections. Windows 10 pushes you to get the latest Windows 10 release every 6 months and only supports any consumer builds for 18 months. If you don’t let it finish and you’re on a slow connection, this process kill your Internet performance forever. If you don’t have the bandwidth to download the bits, I’m happy to provide loaner USB drives to our local clients, or, if you prefer to have me mail it to you please contact me for information.

Please remember that while I list many different applications within these updates, most people should ONLY install updates for a program if they already have a previous version of that program installed.

It is essential to maintain all the applications you have installed on your computer, but often you can minimize the time investment and the potential for exploitation simply by uninstalling software you do not need or use, reducing the attack surface. This includes “free” applications like Avast, OpenOffice, and games you do not actually play.

Also note that using the applications own “check for updates” function, when available, will best preserve your current settings, and often avoid any crapware that might come with a fresh installer. Use this option if it’s available to you.

Finally, if you’re sick of doing this all yourself, let me! Call or email me any time, and we can set you up with subscription SaferPC updates which will be installed each month whenever necessary. Click, call or email for more details:
https://saferpc.info/updates/
209-565-12PD
shawn@12pointdesign.com

Driver Updates

If you’re using this hardware – these updates are for you.

Citizen Driver 2021.1 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/citizen/download/

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.4.3 improves removal. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

HP Laserjet Stub 13.3.3 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://123.hp.com/us/en/devices/LASERJET

Nvidia 472.12 adds support for Windows 11, CUDA 11.4, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Browser Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Brave 1.29.81 adds more advertising, improves IPFS support, resolves several crashes and other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 94.0.4606.54 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 93.0.961.52 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 92.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 78.14.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

Vivaldi 4.2.2406.48 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Mailspring 1.9.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://getmailspring.com/

Thunderbird 91.1.1 is a security update.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to everyone.

Skype 8.75.0.140 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Telegram 3.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Trillian 6.5.0.17 updates libraries and resolves upload bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.trillian.im/

AnyDesk 6.3.3 improves connection reliability. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

AnyDesk (macOS) 6.3.2 adds a URL handler and adds a warning for permissions. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

aria2 1.36.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://aria2.github.io/

BrowsingHistoryView 2.50 improves menu sorting behavior. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html

curl 7.79.0 is a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

DNSDataView 1.61 resolves an international compatibility bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/dns_records_viewer.html

Dropbox 130.4.4978 doesn’t provide a changelog, so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Server 1.0.1 (wow! I honestly thought they’d never release a major version) adds ACME Let’s Encrypt support, logging improvements, library updates and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.14 adds OpenSSL 3.0 support, resolves several bugs, adds ability to manage filter settings, and improves cross-platform compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 51.0 improves reliability and stability. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Npcap 1.55 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Omada Software Controller 4.4.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/download/omada-software-controller/

Rclone 1.56.1 improves reliability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Technitium DNS Server 6.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Zoom 5.7.8.1247 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

darktable 3.6.1 improves hardware support and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/install/

Flickr Downloadr 3.4.3.1 updates libraries. This is not a security update.
https://flickrdownloadr.com/downloads/

iTunes 12.12.0.6 is a security update. Use Apple Software Update to install the most current version.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

MediaMonkey 5.0.3 resolves a duplication bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.mediamonkey.com/windows#download

Plex Home Theater 1.5.1.2629 updates libraries, improves hardware support, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.24.3.5033 adds support for new hardware, updates libraries, resolves stability and reliability bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-media-server

Game Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Steam 2021.09.20 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

Nintendo Switch 13.0.0 adds Bluetooth Audio, the ability to install Dock updates, and preserve the Internet connection in sleep mode. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

PlayStation PS5 21.02-04.00.00 adds M.2 SSD expansion support, 3D audio, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Office Updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Audacity 3.0.4 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Blender 2.93.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

Gimp 2.10.28 is a major update ported to GEGL, adds multithreading, GPU-side processing, hi-DPI support, and improved user interface, selection tools and more. This is not a security update.
https://www.gimp.org/

IcoFX 3.6.1 resolves a startup bug. This is not a security update.
https://icofx.ro/

Krita 4.4.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.2.1 resolves over 400 bugs. This is a security update. The “Fresh” line is beta software, and should be avoided in favor of the “Still” version for most users.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Still 7.1.6 resolves 44 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.3.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Adobe XMP Toolkit SDK 2021.08 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/xmpcore/apsb21-85.html

Adobe Photoshop 21.2.12 and 22.5.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-84.html

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.10.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb21-82.html

Adobe Genuine Service 7.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/integrity_service/apsb21-81.html

Adobe Digital Editions 4.5.11.187658 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/Digital-Editions/apsb21-80.html

Adobe Premiere Elements 20210809.daily.2242976 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_elements/apsb21-78.html

Adobe Photoshop Elements 20210811.m.158081 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop_elements/apsb21-77.html

AdobeCreative Cloud Desktop Application 5.5 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/creative-cloud/apsb21-76.html

Adobe ColdFusion 2018.12 and 2021.2 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/coldfusion/apsb21-75.html

Adobe Framemaker 2019.8 and 2020.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/framemaker/apsb21-74.html

Adobe InDesign 16.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb21-73.html

Adobe SVG-Native-Viewer 20210914 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/svg-native-viewer/apsb21-72.html

Adobe InCopy 16.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb21-71.html

Adobe Premiere Pro 15.4.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_pro/apsb21-67.html

Adobe Acrobat and Reader 2021.007.20091, 2020.004.30015, and 2017.011.30202 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-55.html

Security Software Updates

One or more of these is likely to be of interest to most people.

Tails 4.22 resolves several stability bugs with Tor. This is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

BelArc Advisor 11.1 adds support for new software and operating systems. This is not a security update.
https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor

Hashcat 6.2.4 improves performance, adds hash modes, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
http://hashcat.net/hashcat/#downloadlatest

KeePass 2.49 improves accessibility, reliability, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://keepass.info/

OnionShare 2.3.3 adds dark mode, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://onionshare.org/

OpenSSL 1.1.1l and 3.0.0 are security updates.
https://curl.se/windows/
https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

RogueKiller 15.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.38.0 adds Node.js support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

WebBrowserPassView 2.11 adds a new export/import option, Firefox CSV. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/web_browser_password.html

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Elgato Game Capture HD 3.70.55 adds Facecam support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.elgato.com/en/game-capture-software

SnagIt 2021.4.4 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/enu/snagit.exe

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

HandBrake 1.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://handbrake.fr/

PDF Creator 4.4 resolves several bugs, adds CS Script action, page numbers, and a couple more actions. This is not a security update.
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

Education updates

One or more of these are likely to be of interest to most people.

Zotero 5.0.96.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.zotero.org/

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.8.7 resolves dozens of bugs and compatibility issues. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

Autoruns 14.01 resolves a bug with VirusTotal and adds a dark theme. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns

Beyond Compare 4.4.0.25886 adds support for TLS 1.3, improves SFTP and resolves several bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

Bitwarden 1.28.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CPU-Z Installer 1.97 adds support for new hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

DesktopOK 9.21 improves support for Windows 11 and resolves bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

dnGrep 2.9.378.0 adds several new features and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://dngrep.github.io/

Drive Snapshot 1.49 adds support for new operating systems and improves encryption. This should be treated as a security update.
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/

Etcher 1.5.122 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything Toolbar 0.7.2 resolves a display bug. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stnkl/EverythingToolbar/

Fido 1.24 adds UEFI Shell downloads and command line support. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

GoodSync 11.8.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

LessMSI 1.8.2 resolves a CAB parsing bug. This is not a security update.
https://lessmsi.activescott.com/

NTLite 2.3.0.8330 adds support for Windows 11 and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

osquery 5.0.1 adds several new tables and queries, updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://osquery.io/downloads

PowerToys 0.45.0 improves stability and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

Process Monitor 3.84 adds dark theme. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Process Explorer 16.43 resolves a memory leak and other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Synergy 1.14.1 resolves several bugs, improves reliability and adds new operating system support. This is not a security update.
https://symless.com/synergy/

Sysmon 13.24 improves stability and event handling. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TCPView 4.14 adds dark theme. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/tcpview

TeamViewer 15.21.8 resolves a license warning bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

WhyNotWin11 2.4.1 improves compatibility detection. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

WifiChannelMonitor 1.70 adds 802.11ac monitoring mode. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_channel_monitor.html

WifiInfoView 2.71 improves internationalization. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wifi_information_view.html

Windows 11 RCT 1.1.0 improves compatibility detection. This is not a security update.
https://bytejams.com/

WinScan2PDF 7.31 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

WizTree 4.03 is a massive update. This version adds zoom, improved search controls and organization, Explorer interaction and improved cosmetic controls. This is not a security update.
https://wiztreefree.com/

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

AutoHotkey 1.1.33.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Godot 3.3.3 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://godotengine.org/

Node.js v12 12.22.6 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js v14 14.17.6 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js v16 16.9.1 updates libraries, resolves several bugs, and improves error handling. This is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Unreal Engine 4.27 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unrealengine.com/en-US/

Visual Studio Code 1.60 adds debug watch values, improves cosmetics, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Web Package Updates

These are likely to be of interest only to web developers.

OpenCart 3.0.3.8 resolves an RTL bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.opencart.com/

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.13 is a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Dada Mail 11.15.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://dadamailproject.com/

Docker Desktop 4.0.1 introduces the new licensing scheme, updates libraries, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Drupal 9.1.13 is a security update (the second in a week).
https://drupal.org/download

Drupal 9.2.5 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

MailArchiva 8.2.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://mailarchiva.com/

MailEnable 10.36 resolves several bugs, including a certificate assignment bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.mailenable.com/

Nextcloud Server 22.1.1 updates libraries and resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

ownCloud Client 2.9.0.5150 resolves several bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://owncloud.com/desktop-app/

ScreenConnect 21.12.4575.7914 adds several controls for compatibility and reporting, improves stability, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

YOURLS 1.8.2 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://yourls.org/

WordPress 5.8.1 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Akismet 4.1.12 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.

Autoptimize 2.9.2 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

BuddyPress 9.1.1 is a security update.

Duplicator 1.4.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Postie 1.9.57 improves attachment handling. This is not a security update.

Show IDs 1.1.8 adds support for the latest WordPress. This is not a security update.

Slider Revolution 6.5.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

Social Post Feed 4.0 is a major update adding several new features. This is not a security update.

Sucuri Security 1.8.28 removes a warning. This is not a security update.

Visual Composer 38.1 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://visualcomposer.com/

W3 Total Cache 2.1.8 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

WooCommerce 5.7.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

That’s all for now folks. Keep it clean out there. 😉

Regards,

Shawn K. Hall
https://SaferPC.info/
https://12PointDesign.com/