{"id":138989,"date":"2019-05-16T22:14:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=138989"},"modified":"2025-07-01T21:56:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T04:56:34","slug":"older-windows-virus-vulnerability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/older-windows-virus-vulnerability\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft: Millions of Windows devices are at risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-138990\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2021\/05\/700_Windows_virus_osw6po.jpg\" alt=\"Windows virus\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you are using an older version of\u00a0Windows,\u00a0Microsoft has urged that you install an update to protect against a potential virus.<\/p>\n<p>The company detected a vulnerability in\u00a0<strong>Remote Desktop Services<\/strong>, and recommends that you <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catalog.update.microsoft.com\/Search.aspx?q=4500331&amp;ranMID=24542&amp;ranEAID=nOD\/rLJHOac&amp;ranSiteID=nOD_rLJHOac-1YQEMCHAdqytHKsF8hwIDg&amp;epi=nOD_rLJHOac-1YQEMCHAdqytHKsF8hwIDg&amp;irgwc=1&amp;OCID=AID681541_aff_7593_1243925&amp;tduid=(ir__kgexad2pl9kfrijaxkyc9pw9y32xmcfnt1oj3dwg00)(7593)(1243925)(nOD_rLJHOac-1YQEMCHAdqytHKsF8hwIDg)()&amp;irclickid=_kgexad2pl9kfrijaxkyc9pw9y32xmcfnt1oj3dwg00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">download a patch from their update catalog.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By exploiting this issue, a virus<strong> could potentially spread to the millions of devices<\/strong> using an older version of Windows.\u00a0The virus could be contracted simply by <strong>accessing an internet connection.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The vulnerability exists in the following versions of Windows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows XP<\/li>\n<li>Windows 2003<\/li>\n<li>Windows 7<\/li>\n<li>Windows Server 2008<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of the vulnerable versions are highly out of date and no longer supported, such as <strong>Windows 2003. <\/strong>However<strong>,\u00a0<\/strong>the company wants to preemptively solve the problem as it could widely spread. Luckily,\u00a0<strong>Windows 8 and Windows 10\u00a0<\/strong>are not affected.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Windows 10\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/3238ea9c-96d0-11e6-8b5c-00163ed833e7\/390199485\/windows-10-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Windows 10<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/windows-10.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Windows 10 \u25ba<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--80\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"80\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"8\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">8<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\">The latest and greatest version of Microsoft's operating system.<\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/windows-10.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Simon Pope, director of incident response at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/msrc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Microsoft\u2019s Security Response Center<\/a>, compared the potential risk to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/WannaCry_ransomware_attack\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WannaCry malware attack of 2017.<\/a>\u00a0He also said that if the issue were left unpatched, <strong>the event of a rapidly spreading virus would be &#8220;highly likely.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The WannaCry malware incident involved ransomware being spread through devices running Windows. It encrypted data and demanded ransom in the form of Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any future malware that exploits this vulnerability could propagate from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer in a similar way as the WannaCry malware spread across the globe in 2017,&#8221; Pope said.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Not out of the woods<\/h2>\n<p>Although there weren&#8217;t any hackers exploiting the vulnerability at the time Microsoft released the patches, Microsoft consequently gave them the tools to create a virus.<\/p>\n<p>Someone with malicious intent could<strong> reverse engineer<\/strong> the patch to create the malware, according to Microsoft.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, download the patch and save your hide.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-white\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-white__title\">More from Softonic<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"What is Windows 10 Ultimate Performance mode? \u25ba\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/what-is-windows-10-ultimate-performance-mode\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2019\/04\/windows-10-192.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-white__text\">\r\n        <p>What is Windows 10 Ultimate Performance mode? 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