Latest Windows Security update WAFT

[W1nTry]

Anyone else having the problem of the latest MS Security update 08/07/08 bricking your internet and LAN connectivity? I've seen it happen to 2 of my machines so far and a simple uninstall solves it. Anyone else experience this problem?

[Saxito Pau]

I heard of two such internet incidents today  Will let you know if I verify the cause as a screwed M$ update

[Czar]

Verified. Although, I did notice that ping commands and other command line utils work just fine...so odd O.o

It's like anything with a GUI is dead...can't connect to the lower level layers. But yeah, a quick uninstall solved it.

[W1nTry]

I think I know the problem:

Microsoft update kills ZoneAlarm

Updated Security, they have heard of it

By Nick Farrell: Wednesday, 09 July 2008, 7:26 AM

Click here to find out more!

Update 15:30, 09/07/08
Checkpoint is now advising Zone Alarm users of three fix options, which will get them back up and running until the issue is fully resolved.

It's all here.

PUNTERS who use the ZoneAlarm security package might not want to install MS update KB951748.

According to several news groups, the first thing you will notice after running the update is that your internet connection dies as KB951748 made changes to the networking files that Zonealarm doesn't like. It then decides to block everything just to be safe.

You can get around the problem by setting the Internet Zone Security permission slider from high to medium and that will give you your connection back but that is not really a good idea if you want high security.

Sniffing around the forums we found similar advice although, apparently, the best bet is to reset the ZoneAlarm database.

No word has come from Microsoft or ZoneAlarm yet on the problem which appears to be caused by the update not liking the different file sizes and checksums.

It might be a bad idea to install KB951748 until after either of the companies releases some more concrete information.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20759839-MS-update-KB951748-and-ZoneAlarm-PROBLEM

[Czar]

Heh, I just did some searching and found a similar advisory at c|net - http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-9986625-57.html?hhTest=1

I knew something was strange when I could still get DNS resolution at the command line but not in any GUI apps.

[Czar]

ZA patch is out...
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/pressReleases/2008/LossOfInternetAccessIssue.html

And I can confirm that it works.

ZoneAlarm updated after Microsoft's DNS patch
Posted by Robert Vamosi

On Thursday, Check Point Software Technologies released updated versions of all its ZoneAlarm products, addressing an incompatibility with a patch Microsoft released earlier this week.

The fix requires ZoneAlarm users to download the latest version, 7.0.438.000, from its site. A reboot is required to complete installation.

Since Tuesday, ZoneAlarm customers have complained that access to the Internet was denied after installing MS08-037, a patch designed by Microsoft to correct a vulnerability in both the client and server Domain Name System packages within Windows. Earlier on Tuesday, a security researcher announced a massive, multi-vendor patch release to address a fundamental flaw in DNS that could allow attackers to spoof IP addresses.

Workarounds included uninstalling MS08-037, changing ZoneAlarm's settings from high to medium, or temporarily using the Windows Firewall instead.

Check Point provided no additional comments about the cause of the outage.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-9987632-57.html?hhTest=1