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Updates 2022-11-08

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Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for November, 2022.

This month brings a new major version of macOS (13/Ventura) and a new major version of Windows 10. That’s on top of the nearly 100 major hacks, and over 130 application updates this month. Well, not really this month, since there were many more published on Oct 18th in the last newsletter. There is an OpenSSL security update, so almost every network or internet capable application has a security update right now. There should be about 4.5 GB of updates for most users.

This Month in Technology

Abode Iota All-In-One Security Kit, Advanced, Advocate Aurora Health, Amazon, Argentinian Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, Ascension St. Vincent’s Coastal Cardiology, AstraZeneca, Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory, Aurubis, Australian Clinical Labs, various auto key fobs, Aveanna, Azure Cosmos DB, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Bulgarian Government, Choice Health Insurance LLC, Cisco AnyConnect, CommonSpirit Health, Consorci Sanitari Integral, Defense Health Headquarters, Deribit, DESORDEN GROUP, Doomworld, DropBox, E-Pal, EnergyAustralia, Eventus WholeHealth, PLLC, Fontainebleau Development Health and Welfare Plan, Hackney Council, Heilbronn Stimme, HH/Killeen Health System, LLC, India metro, Indianapolis Housing Agency, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, Jeppesen, Keystone Health in Pennsylvania, Legal Aid ACT, Lolzteam, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Mango Markets, Maple Leaf Foods, Massengale Eye Care, Massy Stores, MBDA, Medibank, Medlab Pathology, METRO, Microsoft, Mid-Westchester Anesthesia Services PC, Moola Market, MyDeal, Nelnet Servicing, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, New York Post, Osaka Acute and General Medical Center, Pendragon Group, Phoenix Programs of Florida, Inc., Poland Parliament, Premier Physical Therapy and Sports Performance, LP, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Primary Anesthesia Services, Pynenberg & Scheske DDS, SC, RecordTV, Regions Hospital, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of CA PC, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of CT PC, Resource Anesthesiology Associates Of KY PSC, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of NM Inc, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of VA LLC, Saddlebrook Anesthesia Services PC, See Tickets, Siemens PLCs, Sigmund Software, LLC, Slovakian Parliamant, Somnia Anesthesia, Somnia Pain Mgt of Kentucky, Somnia, Inc., Spain’s National Renewable Energy Center, St Luke’s Health – Texas, State Bar of Georgia, Tata Power, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Tift Regional Health System, Twilio, UK PM Liz Truss, UK’s Department for Education, Unimed Belem, hundreds of US news websites, Vastaamo, Verizon, Vinomofo, VMware Workspace One Access, Vodafone Italia, WakeMed Health and Hospitals, and Wenco Management, LLC Health and Welfare Benefit Plan have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

Microsoft’s Azure platform has been causing problems for their own WinGet package manager and SysInternals services. Instagram, Zscaler, and Wynncraft suffered widespread outages.

Now for the good news:

The more time you spend evaluating electric cars, the worse you will realize they are. Whether it’s electrical waste, environmental damage, increased pullution or just randomly bursting into flames, they’re clearly not ready for production. And now you know.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday is huge this month. The typical computer should see roughly 4.5 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

With the release of a new version of macOS (13/Ventura) all macOS 10.x versions are no longer supported. If you’re not running at least 11/Big Sur, upgrade now or take your device offline. Really.

Windows 10 22H2 (19045) is a major update for Windows 10. Well, it’s supposed to be – there’s really almost no changes other than the extension of the support window. Even though there’s not a lot new to it, don’t be a lemming: wait at least a couple months for them to work out the inevitable bugs.

Microsoft released updates to address 82 vulnerabilities in .NET Framework, AMD CPU Branch, Azure, Azure Real Time Operating System, Linux Kernel, Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel, Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Office Word, Network Policy Server (NPS), Open Source Software, SysInternals, Visual Studio, Windows Advanced Local Procedure Call, Windows ALPC, Windows Bind Filter Driver, Windows BitLocker, Windows CNG Key Isolation Service, Windows Devices Human Interface, Windows Digital Media, Windows DWM Core Library, Windows Extensible File Allocation, Windows Group Policy Preference Client, Windows HTTP.sys, Windows Hyper-V, Windows Kerberos, Windows Mark of the Web (MOTW), Windows Netlogon, Windows Network Address Translation (NAT), Windows ODBC Driver, Windows Overlay Filter, Windows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Windows Print Spooler Components, Windows Resilient File System (ReFS), Windows Scripting, Windows Win32K
and MSRT (~3 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iOS 15.7.1, iPadOS 15.7.1, iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16, macOS Big Sur 11.7.1, macOS Monterey 12.6.1, macOS Ventura 13, Safari 16.1, tvOS 16.1, watchOS 9.1, and Xcode 14.1. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 16.1 and 15.7.1 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 16.1 and 15.7.1 are security updates. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 9.1 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

tvOS 16.1 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

Google Chrome OS 107.0.5304.92 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 all macOS X (10.x) versions 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.

AMD Adrenalin 22.10.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.amd.com/en/support

BullZip PDF Printer 14.1.0.2951 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php#download

Crucial Storage Executive 8.07 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.5.7 improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

DS4Windows 3.1.10 resolves several bugs and improves responsiveness. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/releases/latest

Daemon Tools Lite 11.1.0 adds ARM support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite

Garmin Express 7.15.2 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be considered a security update.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/

MSI Afterburner 2022.10.05 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards

Samsung DeX 2.4.0.29 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.samsung.com/us/apps/dex/

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.45.118 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 107.0.5304.87 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 107.0.1418.35 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 106.0.5 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Vivaldi 5.5.2805.42 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

ProtonMail (Android) 3.0.9 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://proton.me/mail/download

Spark 3.1.0.38675 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Spark (macOS) 3.1.0.38673 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://sparkmailapp.com/

Thunderbird 102.4.2 is a security update. Use Menu, Help, About to install the current version.
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

Internet Updates

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

AnyDesk 7.1.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.86.0 resolves almost 200 bugs. This is not a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 160.4.4703 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Facebook Messenger 168.0.0.24.90 is a security update.
https://www.messenger.com/download

FileZilla Client 3.62.0 updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

Google Drive 66.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Google Earth 7.3.6 resolves several bugs and improves several features. This is not a security update.
https://earth.google.com/

Microsoft Teams 1.5.00.28361 adds transcription, e-signature integration, rich call history and music on hold. This is not a security update.
https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads

Nextcloud Server 25.0.1 updates dependencies and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

PuTTY 0.78 is a security update.
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

Qbox 4.0.5.32 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.coraltreetech.com/qbox

Rclone 1.60.0 adds three new backends, several new features and resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Signal 5.63.0 doesn’t provide a detailed changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Syncthing 1.22.1 resolves several bugs and improves reliability. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Telegram 4.3.1 is a security update.
https://telegram.org/

Zoom 5.12.6.10137 adds a lot of new features and resolves over a dozen bugs. This is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 3.0.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

Bitwig Studio 4.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.bitwig.com/download/

iTunes 12.12.5.8 adds support for newer iOS and iPad OS version. This is not a security update.
https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Plex Desktop 1.56.2.3345 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.28.3.3355 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.29.2.6364 resolves several bugs. This is 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.

Epic Games 14.3.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.epicgames.com/

Lego Studio 2.22.10.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd

Nintendo Switch 15.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

Steam 2022.10.18 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php?skin=0&id=0

SteamOS 3.3.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/

Office Updates

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

Adobe Illustrator 27.0 and 26.5.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb22-56.html

Adobe Reader DC 22.003.20263 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Calibre 6.8.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

IcoFX 3.8.1 fixes jpg editor and removes shape editor. This is not a security update.
https://icofx.ro/

Krita 5.1.3 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

Kindle for PC 1.39.65323 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.amazon.com/kindleforpc

LibreOffice 7.3.7 resolves over two dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Nextcloud Desktop 3.6.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Notepad++ 8.4.7 resolves the “make my printer bleed” bug, as well as several other bugs. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Sage Timeslips 30.0.4.84 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://na.sage.com/Sage-Timeslips/Support

Security Software Updates

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

Chainsaw 2.2.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

HTTP Toolkit 1.12.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://httptoolkit.tech/

IISCrypto 3.3.17 adds TLS 1.3, new cipher suites, and updates templates. This is not a security update.
https://www.nartac.com/Products/IISCrypto/Download

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware 4.5.17 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/

OpenSSL (SLP) 3.0.7 is a security update.
https://slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html

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

OpenSSL 3.0.7 is a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

ProtonVPN 3.0.5 (macOS) is a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

ReactOS 0.4.14.31 resolves dozens of bugs. This is a security update.
https://reactos.org/

Tails 5.6 is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd/index.en.html

uBlock Origin 1.45.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

Zorin OS 16.2 improves compatibility, updates libraries, upgrades LibreOffice, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://zorin.com/os/mirrors/

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Open Broadcaster Software 28.1.2 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://obsproject.com/

SnagIt 23.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/releases/snagit.msi

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PDF Creator 5.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

StreamFab 6.0.0.1 resolves several bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/downloader-new.htm

DVDFab 12.0.9.1 adds support for new encodings. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

Education updates

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

Zotero 6.0.17 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 8.9.8 resolves several bugs and adds many new features. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

1Password for Windows 8.9.8 resolves several bugs and adds many new features. This is a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/windows/

AOMEI Partition Assistant 9.12.0 adds support for moving BitLocker partitions, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskpart.com/

Beyond Compare 4.4.4.27058 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.scootersoftware.com/download.php?zz=dl4

Bitwarden 2022.10.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 6.05.10110 improves stability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

DesktopOK 10.44 improves tools. This is a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.8.15 updates libraries. This is a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Fido 1.36 adds support for the latest build of Windows. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

Go 1.19.3 is a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 12.0.9 is a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

HWMonitor 1.47 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

IsMyHdOK 3.77 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

Kingston SSD Manager 1.5.2.5 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.kingston.com/us/support/technical/ssdmanager

Memtest86+ 6.00 is a new major version, with support for new hardware, and resolves many bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.memtest.org/

NetworkInterfacesView 1.25 adds enable/disable option and registry key details. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_interfaces.html

NetworkTrafficView 2.42 improves high-DPI mode. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/network_traffic_view.html

NTLite 2.3.8.8978 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

PowerToys 0.64.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

ProcessMonitor 3.92 adds an option to set the filter driver altitude from the command line. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

Process Explorer 17.01 adds dark theme, multipane support, startup improvements and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

RoboForm 9.3.7 adds the ability to install updates without killing all the browsers and resolves several bugs. Be aware that this causes many browser extensions to fail until they’re reinstalled. This is not a security update.
https://www.roboform.com/

ScreenConnect 22.9.10231 adds several new controls and security improvements. This is a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

Sysmon 14.11 resolves a stability bug. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TeamViewer 15.35.7 doesn’t have a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unity 2022.1.21 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

Windows 10 Upgrade 22H2 is a system update. This installs the latest build of Windows 10.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

WinAudit 3.4.3 resolves DNS bug. This is not a security update.
http://www.parmavex.co.uk/winaudit.html

WizTree 4.11 adds a Today filter, now supports quoting in filters, and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskanalyzer.com/

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

AutoHotkey 1.1.35.00 resolves several bugs and backports several features. This is not a security update.
https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Docker Desktop 4.13.1 improves compatibility, upgrades libraries and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

GitHub Desktop 3.1.2 updates embedded engine. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

Node.js 14.21.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.18.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.12.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 19.0.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Visual Studio Code 1.73 adds include/exclude folders to search, shortcuts to Command Center, merge editor improvements and several other fixes. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 7.0.2 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.

Joomla 4.2.5 is a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

phpList 3.6.10 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

Piwigo 13.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

WordPress 6.1 adds a new default theme, new templates, improved design controls, menu editing, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Autoptimize 3.1.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/autoptimize/

BuddyPress 10.6.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/buddypress/

Contact Form 7 5.6.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/

Idea Publisher 1.0.6 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/idea-publisher/

NextScripts Social Networks Auto-Poster 4.4.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-networks-auto-poster-facebook-twitter-g/

Redirection 5.3.5 resolves a language bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/

W3 Total Cache 2.2.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

WooCommerce 7.0.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WPBakery 6.10.0 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wpbakery.com/

WP Plugin Update Checker 5.0 switches from classes to namespaces, adds VCS controls, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/YahnisElsts/plugin-update-checker/releases/latest

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

Regards,

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

Updates 2022-10-11

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Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for October, 2022. This month brings a new major version of Windows 11, and impending new version of Windows 10. That’s on top of the 120 major hacks, and another 150+ application updates this month. This is actually the lightest month we’ve had in a while, with less than 3 GB of updates for most users.

This Month in Technology

2K Games, a high-profile Hawaiian financial company, Airplane WiFi networks, Albanian State Police, American Airlines, Anesthesia Associates of El Paso PA, Anesthesia Associates of Maryland LLC, Anesthesia Services of San Joaquin PC, Argentina’s Ministry of Economy, Ask.FM, Bell Technical Solutions, Bhinneka, Binance, Bitbucket Server, Bonita Springs Retirement Village, Inc., Bronx Anesthesia Services PC, Centerstone of Tennessee, Inc., Centre Hospitalier Sud Francilien, Chase UK, Chilean Judiciary, Chilean Ministry of Defense, City of Tucson, Columbia River Mental Health Services, Comision Nacional de Acreditación in Chile, Comm100 Live Chat, CommonSpirit Health, Consorci Sanitari Integral, Costa Group, Country Doctor Community Clinic, CSI Laboratories (again!), The Coeur Group, Dialog, Digital Network System, DLS Motors, Easterseals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain, Inc., Elbit Systems of America, Empress EMS, Extended MLTC, an F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft components supplier, Fast Company, FishPig, FMC Services, LLC, FortiOS, FortiProxy, Fredericksburg Anesthesia Services LLC, Guatemala’s foreign ministry, Hampton Public Library, Hazleton Anesthesia Services PC, Independence, Intel, Jaime Câmara, Johnson Fitness and Wellness, Kaye-Smith Enterprises, Inc., Kiwi Farms, Landmark Management Services, Latam government, Lloyd’s of London, Lynbrook Anesthesia Services PC, Magellan Rx Management, Magento, Makler, Mexican Military, Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Microsoft Exchange, hundreds of Microsoft SQL servers, Monroe Ear Nose and Throat Associates, PC, National Institute for Drug and Food Surveillance, Neurology Center of Nevada, New York Racing Association, Northern California Fertility Medical Center, Okta Auth0, Optus, Oracle Cloud, Orange Southwest Supervisory District, Palm Springs Anesthesia Services PC, Peru’s Instituto De Desarrollo Profesional, Physician’s Business Office, Inc., Providence WA Anesthesia Services PC, Puigcerda Hospital, Quintal, redONE Network Sdn Bhd, REDTONE Digital BHD Network, Reelfoot Family Walk-In Clinic, Reid and Riege, P.C., Reidville Fire Department, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of CA A Medical Corporation, Resource Anesthesiology Associates of IL PC, Resource Anesthesiology Associates PC, Revolut, Rockstar Games, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seesaw, Shangri-La Group, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, South Redford School District, Starbucks, State Bar of Georgia, State of Colorado, Swachhata, TAP Air Portugal, Telstra, Tessie Cleveland Community Services Corp, The Icon Group, Toyota, Transit Finance, Trend Micro Apex One, Trillium Health Inc., U.S. Dept of Defense, Uber (more), Universidad Internacional Del Ecuador, Upstate Anesthesia Services PC, UW Medicine, Wakanim, WhatsApp, Wintermute, Zimbra, and Zoho ManageEngine have reportedly been hacked or compromised this month.

MEC has shared with us why Microsoft Exchange has proven to be such a large target. 350+ million email accounts spread across over 300,000 physical servers, where (demonstrably) security lapses are commonplace. Even with that, it has nothing to do with the recent spate of outlook crashes or certificate issues on MS products.

There’s more evidence demonstrating the risk of pirated software. Twitter neglected to log out devices after password resets. And Dell drivers are being used to hijack computers.

The newest version of Windows 11 was released less than 3 weeks ago. It has problems. Among the many issues with the latest release of Windows 11 include
file copy performance, Windows Hello failure, provisioning, Remote Desktop, printer issues, Intel audio, NVIDIA GeForce Experience, and NVIDIA gaming performance, and those are just the ones that have made the news so far. If you’re planning to upgrade to the latest build of Windows 11, wait another month or two.

Now for the good news:

It turns out the theoretial protection of tinfoil hats may have actually been a government conspiracy. Really. How is this good news? You don’t have to worry about making sure you have tinfoil available anymore! 🙂

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

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

Windows 11 22H2 (22621) is a major update for Windows 11, but it has been plagued with issues over the last couple weeks. Give it time before you willingly update.

Microsoft released updates to address 90 vulnerabilities in Active Directory Domain Services, Azure, Azure Arc, Client Server Run-time Subsystem, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Graphics Component, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office 365 2209 (15629.20156), Microsoft Office SharePoint, Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL, NuGet Client, Remote Access Service Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Role: Windows Hyper-V, Service Fabric, Visual Studio Code, Windows Active Directory Certificate Services, Windows ALPC, Windows CD-ROM Driver, Windows COM+ Event System Service, Windows Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, Windows CryptoAPI, Windows Defender, Windows DHCP Client, Windows Distributed File System, Windows DWM Core Library, Windows Event Logging Service, Windows Group Policy, Windows Group Policy Preference Client, Windows Internet Key Exchange Protocol, Windows Kernel, Windows Local Security Authority, Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service, Windows Local Session Manager, Windows NTFS, Windows NTLM, Windows ODBC Driver, Windows Perception Simulation Service, Windows Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, Windows Portable Device Enumerator Service, Windows Print Spooler Components, Windows Resilient File System, Windows Secure Channel, Windows Security Support Provider Interface, Windows Server Remotely Accessible Registry Keys, Windows Server Service, Windows Storage, Windows TCP/IP, Windows USB Serial Driver, Windows Web Account Manager, Windows Win32K, Windows WLAN Service, Windows Workstation Service, and MSRT (~2 GB). This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for iOS 16.0.3 and watchOS 9.0.2. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS iOS 16.0.3 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

watchOS 9.0.2 is a security update. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 105.0.5195.134 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 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.

AMD Adrenalin 22.10.1 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.amd.com/en/support

Crucial Storage Executive 8.03 does not provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.crucial.com/support/storage-executive

Display Driver Uninstaller 18.0.5.5 improves cleanup. This is not a security update.
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu

DS4Windows 3.1.6 resolves dozens of issues. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/releases/latest

Epson ET-4800 3.01 adds support for newer Remote Print Driver and Epson Photo+ Software. This is not a security update.
https://epson.com/Support/Printers/All-In-Ones/ET-Series/Epson-ET-4800/s/SPT_C11CJ65201

Garmin Express 7.14.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/

Intel Driver and Support Assistant 22.6.39 resolves several bugs and improves feedback. This is not a security update.
https://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect

Netgear Nighthawk R7960P 1.4.4.94 is a security update.
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/R7960P.aspx#download

Wacom Driver 6.4.0-8 adds support for newer hardware. This is not a security update.
https://www.wacom.com/en-us/support/product-support/drivers

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.44.108 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 106.0.5249.103 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 106.0.1370.34 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 105.0.3 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

SeaMonkey 2.53.14 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 5.5.2805.35 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

NK2Edit 3.45 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_nk2_edit.html

OutlookAttachView 3.46 improves visual feedback. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_attachment.html

Thunderbird 102.3.2 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.

BrowsingHistoryView 2.52 improves visual feedback. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html

Dropbox 158.4.4564 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

Facebook Messenger 164.0.0.8.109 is a security update.
https://www.messenger.com/download

FileZilla Client 3.61.0 should be treated as a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.26 improves performance and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 64.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Microsoft Teams 1.5.00.21668 adds support for Apple Silicon, group chat reply suggestions, and improves management features. This is not a security update.
https://teams.microsoft.com/downloads

Mumble 1.4.287 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.mumble.info/

Nextcloud Server 24.0.6 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

Rclone 1.59.2 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://rclone.org/

Signal 5.62.0 resolves several bugs and improves contact property view. This is not a security update.
https://signal.org/download/windows/

Skype 8.88.0.401 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.skype.com/

Syncthing 1.22.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Technitium DNS Server 9.1 adds certbot support, dashboard improvements, and several other features. This is not a security update.
https://technitium.com/dns/

Telegram 4.2.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

WinSCP 5.21.5 is a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.12.2.9281 is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Bitwig Studio 4.4 improves stability, adds new audio FX packages, and new “spectral devices.” This is not a security update.
https://www.bitwig.com/download/

darktable 4.0.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.darktable.org/

MediaMonkey 5.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mediamonkey.com/windows#download

Plex Desktop 1.55.0.3278 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.26.1.3276 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.29.0.6244 resolves several 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.

Epic Games 14.2.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.epicgames.com/

GameMaker Studio 2022.9.0.49 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

Lego Studio 2.22.9.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.lego.com/en-us/ldd

Nintendo Switch 15.0.0 improves stability, changes a menu, and adds ability to take screenshots in NSO. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

PS4 10.01 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps4/system-software/

PS5 22.02-06.00.01 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2022.10.06 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 Animate 21.0.12 and 22.0.8 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/animate/apsb22-54.html

Adobe Bridge 12.0.3 and 11.1.4 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/bridge/apsb22-49.html

Adobe Experience Manager CS and 6.5.14.0 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb22-40.html

Adobe Illustrator 26.5 and 25.4.8 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/illustrator/apsb22-55.html

Adobe InCopy 17.4 and 16.4.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/incopy/apsb22-53.html

Adobe InDesign 17.4 and 16.4.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/indesign/apsb22-50.html

Adobe Photoshop 22.5.9 and 23.5 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb22-52.html

Adobe Reader DC 22.003.20258 is a security update.
https://get.adobe.com/reader

Audacity 3.2.1 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Blender 3.3.1 adds hair geometry, improves deforming tools, and several other features. This is not a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

Krita 5.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://krita.org/en/download/krita-desktop/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.4.1 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Notepad++ 8.4.6 adds change history markers and tab context menu improvements. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

PDF-XChange Editor 9.4.364.0 is a security update.
https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

Calibre 6.6.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

Kindle for PC 1.39.65306 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 2.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

HTTP Toolkit 1.11.0 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://httptoolkit.tech/

OnionShare 2.6 adds several new features. This is a security update.
https://onionshare.org/

OpenSSL 3.0.6 is a security update.
https://www.openssl.org/source/

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

OSFClone 1.4.1000 updates libraries and core OS. This is a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/tools/create-disk-images.html

ProtonVPN 2.1.1 is a cosmetic update. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

ProtonVPN for macOS 3.0.3 is a cosmetic update. This is not a security update.
https://protonvpn.com/download

ReactOS 0.4.14.24 resolves dozens of bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://reactos.org/

uBlock Origin 1.44.4 resolves the broken :not() operator. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

VT-CLI 0.10.3 adds directory scanning and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/VirusTotal/vt-cli/releases/latest

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Open Broadcaster Software 28.0.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://obsproject.com/

ScreenToGif 2.37.1 resolves several bugs to improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/NickeManarin/ScreenToGif/releases/latest

SnagIt 22.1.2 resolves an activation bug. This is not a security update.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/releases/snagit.msi

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

DVDFab 12.0.8.9 adds support for new encodings and improved hardware support. This is not a security update.
https://www.dvdfab.cn/download.htm

iMazing HEIC Converter 2.0.2 doesn’t provide a changelog. This is not a security update.
https://imazing.com/heic

PDF Creator 5.0 is a major update adding new features and organizational tools. This is not a security update.
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

StreamFab 5.0.5.6 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 6.0.15 adds split view improvements, adds math support, PDF improvements, 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.

BgInfo 4.32 now reports Windows Insider builds. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/bginfo

Bitwarden 2022.9.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitwarden.com/

CCleaner 6.04.10044 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ccleaner.com/

Coreinfo 3.6 adds and option to measure inter-CPU latency. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/coreinfo

DesktopOK 10.34 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.7.9 adds update notification and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Everything 1.4.1.1022 is a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Everything CLI 1.1.0.26 adds -exit, -reindex, and -utf8bom options, and resolves a Unicode write bug. This is not a security update.
https://www.voidtools.com/

Fido 1.35 is the fourth compatibility release for Windows 11 22H2. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

Git SCM 2.38.0 resolves over a dozen bugs. This is not a security update.
https://git-scm.com/

Go 1.19.2 is a security update.
https://go.dev/

GoodSync 12.0.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

grepWin 2.0.11 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stefankueng/grepWin/releases/latest

Kingston SSD Manager 1.5.2.4 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.kingston.com/us/support/technical/ssdmanager

NTLite 2.3.8.8945 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

OSForensics 10.0.1004 improves documentation and reports, and updates several features. This is not a security update.
https://www.osforensics.com/download.html

PowerToys 0.63.0 resolves several bugs and updates dependencies. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

ScreenConnect 22.8.9612.8308 adds key rotation, improved session management, improved compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

Sysmon 14.1 adds monitoring for FileBlockShredding events. This is not a security update.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/sysmon

TaskSchedulerView 1.72 improves high-DPI compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

TeamViewer 15.34.4 improves multi-tab display. This is not a security update.
https://www.teamviewer.com/en-us/download/windows/

Unity 2022.1.19 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive

WinGet 1.3.2691 updates dependencies. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/winget-cli/releases/latest

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Android Studio 2021.3.1.16 improves wear OS compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://developer.android.com/studio

AutoIt 3.3.16.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/history.htm

GitHub Desktop 3.1.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://desktop.github.com/

MySQL Server 8.0.31 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/installer/

MySQL ConnectorNet 8.0.31 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/net/

Node.js 14.20.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 16.17.1 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js 18.10.0 is a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

SQLite 3.39.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

TortoiseSVN 1.14.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://tortoisesvn.net/downloads.html

Visual Studio Code 1.72.1 is a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 7.0.0 is a major update adding full encryption support, cloud interop connectivity, new hardware virtualization features and 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.

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.20 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Drupal 9.4.8 is a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

Joomla 4.2.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.joomla.org/

MailEnable 10.42 and 9.85 are security updates.
https://www.mailenable.com/

Piwigo 13.0.0 adds several new features and updates compatibility options. This is not a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

Akismet 5.0.1 resolves several bugs.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

Autoptimize 3.1.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/autoptimize/

myStickymenu 2.6.1 removes the contact form character limit. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mystickymenu/

Postie 1.9.62 resolves a timezone bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postie/

Redirection 5.3.4 resolves a “not” bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/

Simple Lightbox 2.9.2 should be treated as a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/simple-lightbox/

Slider Revolution 6.6.3 resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://revolution.themepunch.com/

W3 Total Cache 2.2.6 resolves a Cloudfront compatibility bug. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/

WP Mail SMTP 3.6.1 resolves several bugs and improves debug controls. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/

WooCommerce 6.9.4 resolves dozens of bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/woocommerce/

WordPress Importer 0.8 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-importer/

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

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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 Health, Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, All in One SEO, Amedia, Andrew Sauchelli, DMD, Apache httpd, Apple Blossom Family Practice, Azure App Service, Bansley and Kiener (B&K), Belgium’s Military, Bernalillo County, BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy Services LLC, Brazil’s Health Ministry, Broward Health, C.E. Niehoff & Company, Chaddock, Ciox Health, Commission on Elections, COVID-19 Home Tests, Crawford County Assessors Office, Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, Inc., DatPiff, The De Montfort School, Douglas C Morrow ODPC, Duneland School Corporation, Evanston Township High School, Expresso and SIC, Fertility Centers of Illinois, PLLC, FinalSite, FlexBooker, Florida Digestive Health Specialists LLP, Forensic Science Ireland, Fresenius Kabi infusion pump systems, Garrett metal detectors, Georgia Bone & Joint Surgeons, P.C., Google Docs Comment Platform, Grass Valley, CA, Gumtree, H2 Database, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Impresa, Inetum Group, iPhone 13, James Kagan, MD, Jefferson Surgical Clinic, Kearsarge Regional School District, LastPass, Log4j (several times), Loyola University Medical Center, Luxemburg-Casco School District, macOS powerdir, McMenamins, MedQuest Pharmacy, Inc., Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Teams, Monkey Kingdom (via Grape), Monongalia Health System Inc., Monroe Public Schools, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, Netgear Nighthawk, Northwest Broward Orthopaedics Associates, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, OG department store, ONUS, Oregon Eye Specialists, Peck & Associates, PC, Pithadia Medical Professional Services, Inc., Protemps, PulseTV, QNAP, Ravkoo, RedLine Stealer, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Running Warehouse LLC, Sainsbury’s, Saltzer Health, Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, SEGA, Shelley School District, Shutterfly, Skate Warehouse LLC, Skin Care Specialty Physicians, Sotheby’s Realty’s Brightcove, Southern Orthopaedic Associates, Spar Stores, Standard Bank, Superior Plus, Surgery Group SC, T-Mobile, Tackle Warehouse LLC, Tennis Warehouse LCC, Tiyuli and Lametayel, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, Uber, Ubisoft, UK Defence Academy, Ultimate Kronos Group, US Commission on International Religious Freedom, UScellular, Utah Department of Health, Virginia Division of Capitol Police, Virginia General Assembly, Volvo, Walgreen Co., WD MyCloud, Welfare, 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.

Cloudflare, AWS, 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 2021-12-14

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Welcome back, Folks!

Today is Patch Tuesday for December, 2021. This month has been relatively mild, especially for the typical user. Businesses are facing some serious Christmas disasters including massive botnets targeting WordPress, Log4j, payment platforms, and state-run “passport” systems. Nevertheless, the grind continues.

This Month in Technology

ActMobile Networks (VPN), Alberta Health, Astoria Company LLC, thousands of AT&T Edgewater Networks devices, Atraf, Bay Village High School, Beaverhead County High School, BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy Services, LLC, Bitmart, Brazilian Ministry of Health, Broward Public Schools, Brussels Bru-Vax, Bureau Veritas, Central Depository Services Ltd, California Pizza Kitchen, Costco, Cox Communications, DeKalb County School District, Delta-Montrose Electric Association, DNA Diagnostics Center, Episcopal Retirement Services, Escambia County School District, Eskenazi Health, Evanston Township High School, Florida Heart Associates, French-Public School Board, Frontier Software, GoDaddy Inc (and 123Reg, Domain Factory, Heart Internet, Host Europe, Media Temple, and tsoHost), Gravatar, Headwaters Health Care Centre, Health Service Executive, Hellman Worldwide Logistics, Hikvision surveillance systems, Hisar health department, HPE, dozens of HP printer models, Huntington Hospital, IDC Games, IKEA, Indonesian police, various Iranian gas stations, Johnson Memorial Health, Kisters AG, KMSPico, Kronos, Lakeside School, LINE Pay, Lewis and Clark Community College, Maryland Department of Health, Manhasset School District, Microsoft Exchange Servers, Medsurant Health, MNG Cargo, Newfoundland and Labrador Health-Care System, Nordic Choice Hotels, North Oklahoma County Mental Health Center, Northeastern University, Nowiny Commune Office, Old Pulaski Middle School, One Community Health, Oregon Anesthesiology Group, P.C., Pakistan’s National Database Biometric Data, Panasonic, Pellissippi State Community College, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, millions of PlayStation 5 devices, QNAP NAS devices, RedDoorz, Rideau Valley Health Centre, Riverhead Central School District, Robinhood, S&R Membership Shopping, SanDisk SecureAccess, Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Shelley School District, Simon Eye Management, millions of Sky Routers, SonicWall SMA 100 VPNs, South Australian Government, Southern Ohio Medical Center, SPAR Stores, Spotswood Public Schools, Stor-a-file Limited, Stripchat, Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Swire Pacific Offshore, TATA, TP-Link routers, True Health New Mexico, Tulane University Medical Center, Ulss 6 Euganea, US defense contractors, U.S. State Department, Utah Imaging Associates, Virginia’s Division of Legislative Automated Systems, Vestas, Volvo, Waikato DHB, Yemeksepeti, Za: Standard Bank, and Zoho ServiceDesk have reportedly been hacked this month.

A Tesla server outage prevented owners worldwide from unlocking their cars.

Another 5 hour outage at AWS caused problems for thousands of websites that depend upon the “reliability” of cloud services. Netflix, Ring, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon deliveries, and Roku were just a few affected sites and services.

Google Photos suffered from a bug for 10 days that damaged all downloads over 128 MB. They alerted their customers to the problem about a month after fixing the bug.

Instead of focusing on providing a more secure product, Apple is suing the NSO Group for developing malware that exploits vulnerabilities in Apple products.

Google, Apple and Samsung payment services exposed to provide unlimited access to digital wallets without authentication.

Grafana – used in thousands of applications for the gorgeous displays it can provide – has patched multiple critical security vulnerabilities. Expect vendors to play catch-up as they release updates that update their Grafana libraries.

Like Grafana, Log4j is another widely used engine across thousands of applications – mostly in corporate and enterprise applications. It’s been exploited in 40% of corporate networks globally, so far. It’s not just corporate risk – even Minecraft is vulnerable.

A massive series of attacks targeting managed WordPress websites has compromised at least 1.8 million sites so far. Merely patching the sites and removing unused and out-dated plugins and themes would have eliminated the risk here.

Now for the good news:

Alexa.com is finally being shut down after 25 years of misrepresenting the web.

Let’s Get Busy

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Patch Tuesday this month is smaller than it has been in months. The typical computer should see roughly 2 GB in updates today. Let’s get started.

Microsoft released updates for Windows, Edge, .NET, and MSRT (~1.5 GB). This includes updates for Windows Server 2008. This includes security updates. A reboot is required.

Apple released updates for macOS Monterey 12.1, macOS Big Sur 11.6.2, Security Update 2021-008 Catalina, iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2, tvOS 15.2, watchOS 8.3, and watchOS 8.1.1. This includes security updates. Use Apple Software Update to install these updates. A reboot is required.

iOS 15.2 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

iPadOS 15.2 is a security update. Use Settings, General, Software Update to install the most current update.

tvOS 15.2 is a security update. Use System, Software Update to install the most current version.

watchOS 8.3 and 8.1.1 are security updates. Use the Watch app on your iPhone to install the most current version.

Google Chrome OS 96.0.4664.77 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.

Citizen Driver 2021.3 adds support for over 430 hardware printer models and resolves several minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/citizen/download/

CognitiveTPG Driver 2021.3 adds support for over 430 hardware printer models and resolves several minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/cognitivetpg/download/

Logitech Options 9.40.86 adds support for new hardware and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://support.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025297893

Logitech SetPoint 6.70.55 adds support for new hardware and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://support.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025141274

Xerox Smart Start 1.6.28.0 adds support for newer drivers. This is not a security update.
https://www.support.xerox.com/en-us/content/143617

Zebra Driver 2021.3 adds support for over 430 hardware printer models and resolves several minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/zebra/download/

Browser Updates

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

Brave 1.32.115 is a security update.
https://brave.com/

Google Chrome 96.0.4664.110 is a security update.
https://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft Edge 96.0.1054.53 is a security update.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/business/download

Firefox 95.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox ESR 91.4.0 is a security update.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/

SeaMonkey 2.53.10.1 is a security update.
https://www.seamonkey-project.org/

Vivaldi 5.0.2497.28 is a security update.
https://vivaldi.com/

Email Updates

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

Thunderbird 91.4.0 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 7.0.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

AnyDesk for macOS 6.3.3 improves M1 compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://anydesk.com/en/downloads

curl 7.80.0 resolves over 100 bugs. This should be treated as a security update.
https://curl.haxx.se/windows/

Dropbox 136.4.4345 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.dropbox.com/

FileZilla Client 3.57.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://filezilla-project.org/

FreeFileSync 11.15 resolves several bugs and improves user interface and compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://www.freefilesync.org/download.php

Google Drive 54.0 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drive.google.com/start

Npcap 1.60 resolves over a dozen bugs and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://nmap.org/npcap/

Syncthing 1.18.5 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://syncthing.net/

Telegram 3.3.0 adds media distribution controls, bot improvements and channel controls. This is not a security update.
https://telegram.org/

WinSCP 5.19.5 resolves several bugs and adds Google Cloud S3 API support. This is not a security update.
https://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Zoom 5.8.7.2058 adds many new features and resolves a dozen bugs, mostly with compatibility. This is a security update.
https://zoom.us/

Media Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

3tene 2.0.19 improves compatibility with VRoid Studio and adds Leap Motion. This is not a security update.
https://en.3tene.com/

Plex Desktop 1.39.1.2763 resolves code signing. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Home Theater 1.9.0.2741 adds audio stream selection, resolves several bugs, and improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/#plex-app

Plex Media Server 1.25.2.5319 resolves several 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.

GameMaker Studio 2.3.7.606 improves reliability and performance, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.yoyogames.com/en/gamemaker

Nintendo Switch 13.2.0 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22525/kw/system%20updates/p/989

PS5 21.02-04.50.00 improves performance. This is not a security update.
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5/system-software/

Steam 2021.11.19 resolves several bugs, improves reliability and stability. This is a security update.

Office Updates

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

Audacity 3.1.2 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Blender 3.0 is a major new version with dozens of new features, improvements in modeling, shadows, geometry and more. This is not a security update.
https://www.blender.org/download/

LibreOffice Fresh 7.2.4 is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

LibreOffice Still 7.1.8 is a security update.
https://www.libreoffice.org/

Notepad++ 8.1.9.3 resolves several bugs and improves diagnostics to troubleshoot a persistent crash bug. This is not a security update.
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

Paint.net 4.3.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.getpaint.net/

PDF-XChange Editor 9.2.359.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

Adobe Premiere Rush 2.0 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_rush/apsb21-101.html

Adobe Experience Manager 6.5.11 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/experience-manager/apsb21-103.html

Adobe Connect 11.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/connect/apsb21-112.html

Adobe Photoshop 22.5.4 and 23.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/photoshop/apsb21-113.html

Adobe Prelude 22.1.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/prelude/apsb21-114.html

Adobe After Effects 22.1.1 and 18.4.3 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/after_effects/apsb21-115.html

Adobe Dimension 3.4.4 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/dimension/apsb21-116.html

Adobe Premiere Pro 15.4.3 and 22.1.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/premiere_pro/apsb21-117.html

Adobe Media Encoder 15.4.3 and 22.1.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/media-encoder/apsb21-118.html

Adobe Lightroom 5.1 is a security update.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/lightroom/apsb21-119.html

Adobe Audition 14.4.3 and 22.1.1 are security updates.
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/audition/apsb21-121.html

Security Software Updates

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

Tails 4.25 adds backups, external storage support, updates applications and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://tails.boum.org/install/dvd-download/index.en.html

BelArc Advisor 11.1 doesn’t provide a changelog so should be treated as a security update.
https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor

Chainsaw 1.1.4 improves logging, error handling, and removes progress bar for reliability. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/countercept/chainsaw

Hashcat 6.2.5 improves improves hardware compatibility, performance, and resolves several bugs. This is a security update.
https://hashcat.net/hashcat/#downloadlatest

RogueKiller 15.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

uBlock Origin 1.39.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/latest

VT-CLI 0.10.0 adds support for managing collections. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/VirusTotal/vt-cli/releases/latest

Wireless Network Watcher 2.26 updates internal MAC address database and improves high-DPI support. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_watcher.html

Capture Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

SnagIt 2022.0.0 adds several new features including a universal file format, cross-platform markup, and cloud storage, improves performance, and resolves several bugs.
https://download.techsmith.com/snagit/releases/snagit.msi

VideoCacheView 3.08 adds compatibility with newer browser builds. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/video_cache_view.html

Converter Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

PDF Creator 4.4.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator

Utility Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

1Password for Mac 7.9.2 improves compatibility and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://1password.com/downloads/mac/

7-Zip 21.06 adds memory controls, dictionary size improvements, hash validation support, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.7-zip.org/

Agent Ransack 2022.3277 adds OCR, new themes, improves indexing, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack/download/

Bitcoin 22.0 removes defunct protocols, updates privacy and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://bitcoin.org/en/download

Carbonite 6.4.0 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://account.carbonite.com/

Cygwin 3.3.3 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://cygwin.com/

DesktopOK 9.44 adds dark theme support, high-DPI improvements, and several bug fixes. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/DesktopOK

Etcher 1.7.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Fido 1.27 adds support for Windows 10 v21H2. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases

FileLocator Pro 2022.3277 adds OCR, new themes, improves indexing, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.mythicsoft.com/filelocatorpro/download

Git SCM 2.34.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://git-scm.com/

GoodSync 11.9.7 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.goodsync.com/

grepWin 2.0.9 improves reliability and adds exact match support. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/stefankueng/grepWin/releases/latest

Homedale 2.01 improves MAC Address vendor detection and IE DFS dump. This is not a security update.
https://www.the-sz.com/products/homedale/

IsMyHdOK 3.44 improves accuracy. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/IsMyHdOK

NTLite 2.3.2.8519 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.ntlite.com/download/

PointerStick 5.61 improves high-DPI support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/PointerStick

PowerToys 0.51.1 improves stability. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/latest

ReactOS 0.4.13.32 resolves over a hundred bugs, and improves stability, compatibility and reliability. This is a security update.
https://reactos.org/

SearchMyFiles 3.15 improves summary mode, zero-value filters, and search improvements. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html

Synergy 1.14.2 resolves over a dozen bugs, improves reliability, adds M1 support, and adds automatic restart on settings change. This is not a security update.
https://symless.com/synergy/

TraceRouteOK 2.66 adds dark theme support, high-DPI improvements, and several bug fixes. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/TraceRouteOK

USB Oblivion 1.17.0.0 resolves a key name bug and improves performance. This is not a security update.
http://www.cherubicsoft.com/en/projects/usboblivion

WakeMeOnLan 1.90 adds global and bulk WOL support and updates MAC addresses databases. This is not a security update.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wake_on_lan.html

WhyNotWin11 2.4.3.1 improves stability, hardware detection, and compatibility improvements. This is not a security update.
https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

WinScan2PDF 7.51 resolves several minor bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Microsoft/WinScan2PDF

WizTree 4.07 improves MTP/PTP compatibility, reliability, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.diskanalyzer.com/

ZoomText 2021 2021.2111.4.400 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

ZoomText 2022 2022.2110.70.400 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://support.freedomscientific.com/Downloads/ZoomText

Developer Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

Docker Desktop 4.3.1 is a security update.
https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Node.js v14 14.18.2 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js v16 16.13.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Node.js v17 17.2.0 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://nodejs.org/en/

Redemption 6.1.0.6054 adds MarkSaved and OverridePSTDisableGrow, and IMAP4 controls, and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.dimastr.com/redemption/

SQLite 3.37.0 improves STRICT, CHECK constraints, and CLI improvements. This is not a security update.
https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Visual Studio Code 1.63 adds several features and improves compatibility. This is not a security update.
https://code.visualstudio.com/

Virtual Machine Updates

These are unlikely to be of interest to most people.

VirtualBox 6.1.30 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.

Coppermine Gallery 1.6.16 improves compatibility and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://coppermine-gallery.net/

Drupal 9.3.0 updates libraries and dependencies, improves compatibility, and resolves a couple bugs. This is not a security update.
https://drupal.org/download

HumHub 1.10.2 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.humhub.com/en/download

MailArchiva 8.4.1 is a security update.
https://mailarchiva.com/

Nextcloud Server 23.0.0 is a major update adding massing performance improvements, improved external integrations, Backup and more. This is not a security update.
https://nextcloud.com/

ownCloud Client 2.9.2.6206 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://owncloud.com/desktop-app/

phpList 3.6.6 is a security update.
https://www.phplist.org/

Piwigo 12.1.0 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://piwigo.org/

ScreenConnect 21.14.5791.8004 improves reliability and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.
https://www.connectwise.com/software/control/download

WordPress 5.8.2 is a security update.
https://wordpress.org/

Autoptimize 2.9.3 improves multisite support and resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

bbPress 2.6.9 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Contact Form 7 5.5.3 improves Constant Contact integration, filters and form properties. This is not a security update.

Slider Revolution 6.5.11 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

Social Post Feed 4.1 updates libraries and resolves several bugs. This version will need to reconnect to any Facebook feeds you use. This is not a security update.

Theme My Login 7.1.4 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

W3 Total Cache 2.2.1 resolves several bugs. This is not a security update.

WP Mail SMTP 3.2.1 improves compatibility. This is not a security update.

WordPress Zero Spam 5.2.8 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/