Microsoft Warns of Windows 7 Graphics Flaw 262
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the leaky-pipes-make-for-wet-basements dept.
from the leaky-pipes-make-for-wet-basements dept.
Barence writes "A flaw with the graphics driver in Windows 7 could compromise the stability and security of PCs, Microsoft has warned. The vulnerability lies in the Windows Canonical Display Driver (cdd.dll) for the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft claims that the flaw could lead to machines rebooting or even allow a hacker to remotely execute code, although it claims either eventuality is improbable. Concerned users are being advised to disable Windows Aero until Microsoft can issue a fix."
Servers (Score:5, Informative)
and Windows Server 2008 R2
This is why you don't use unnecessary things like Aero (and graphical displays) on servers. Granted Aero isn't enabled by default on Windows Server 2008, but it's still all unnecessary. Servers are meant to be configured and left running with minimal installs. You can do everything you need to from a command line, and sftp for editing those configuration files. When you have a minimalistic install there's also much less change of some random software having an exploitable bug.
GUI is still there for remote desktop and it's eas (Score:2, Informative)
GUI is still there for remote desktop and it's easier to configure then CMD only.
I have noticed something related (Score:5, Informative)
It seems there are some flaws in Aero on 64 bit systems.
Re:I have noticed something related (Score:3, Informative)
BC2 is probably trying to cache everything into your available video ram, hence aero shutting down because it is out of ram. It does require 128megs, so perhaps BC2 is trying to utilize the whole 1 gig since its there.
Re:Canonical (Score:3, Informative)
Well, yes: Because this driver is not vendor specific. It's part of the actual OS itself. When was the last time you saw, say, a huge flaw in the Linux framebuffer, or something like that?
If the vulnerability is caused by the vendor of a chip, or the shoddy documentation of s chip maker: hell yes, blame the third part. In this case... MS can only blame themselves. Their own 'canonical display driver' is shoddy, not a 3rd party chip maker.
Re:I have noticed something related (Score:2, Informative)
You are correct, lots of games will try to claim all available video ram when running in fullscreen. It's generally a good idea to turn of aero when gaming, although it's kind of a hassle. There is a method for apps to request Aero to shutdown without the need for user intervention (of all games Civ IV actually does this) but very few games seem to make use of it.
Re:I have noticed something related (Score:3, Informative)
You can just right click and go to the compatability tab and select disable windows themes. It will turn off aero automatically.
Re:Idiotic Moderators. (Score:4, Informative)
Powershell is by far, one of the best Microsoft has created on the scripting side. Why? They basically took a shell and enhanced it by making it object aware, and giving it access to .net. In Microsoft lingo, cmdlets replace unix utilities.
I am not a fan of the naming conventions they use in powershell! It makes it harder to write terse scripts.
Please see
http://w3.linux-magazine.com/issue/78/Bash_vs._Vista_PowerShell.pdf [linux-magazine.com] for a comparison of powershell vs Bash.
http://blog.brandonbloom.name/2009/04/powershell-condemned-to-reinvent.html [brandonbloom.name]
Re:GUI is still there for remote desktop and it's (Score:3, Informative)
No, they are not equal. The problem is that using GUIs as we know them today, is NOT using a computer. It is instead the same thing as fiddling with an appliance. A static thing. Good luck piping the output of a Firefox menu item to Gimp. Good luck scripting the interface. That’s the real problem. You can’t really. Everything is monolithic static applications. With the rare plug-in exception.
Real work = AUTOMATING
Do you know that saying, that the computer creates the work that you wouldn’t have without it?
That is what happens if you use it like an appliance, instead of automating your work away.
It’s sad that KDE and Gnome raped the Unix philosophy... with a 30 inch pipe... sideways... ...instead of doing it the proper way, and making everything a small module that does one thing, and does it right.