Network Security Scanner, PCI DSS Compliance Reporting, Vulnerability Management, Patch Management, Port Scanner, Open Ports, Security Management.
How To: Implement Patch Management. It is provided as a courtesy for individuals who are still using these technologies. Meier, Alex Mackman, Michael Dunner, Srinath Vasireddy, Ray Escamilla and Anandha Murukan.
Microsoft Corporation. Published: June 2. Last Revised: January 2. See the . Additional software is not required, except for the tools available for download from Microsoft. Operations and security policy should adopt a patch management process.
Vulnerability and Patch Management: Chapter 4. Network Access Control: Chapter 5. Capturing and Deployment of Computer Images: KL 110.10: Mobile Device.
This How To defines the processes required to create a sound patch management system. The patch management process can be automated using the guidance in this How To. Contents. This How To shows you how to implement each phase of the patch management process. These phases include: What You Must Know. Before You Begin. Additional Resources. What You Must Know.
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Before using this How To, you should be aware of the following issues and considerations. The Patch Management Process.
Patch management is a circular process and must be ongoing. The unfortunate reality about software vulnerabilities is that, after you apply a patch today, a new vulnerability must be addressed tomorrow.
Develop and automate a patch management process that includes each of the following. Detect. Use tools to scan your systems for missing security patches. The detection should be automated and will trigger the patch management process. Assess. If necessary updates are not installed, determine the severity of the issue(s) addressed by the patch and the mitigating factors that may influence your decision. By balancing the severity of the issue and mitigating factors, you can determine if the vulnerabilities are a threat to your current environment. Acquire. If the vulnerability is not addressed by the security measures already in place, download the patch for testing.
Test. Install the patch on a test system to verify the ramifications of the update against your production configuration. Deploy. Deploy the patch to production computers. Make sure your applications are not affected. Employ your rollback or backup restore plan if needed. Maintain. Subscribe to notifications that alert you to vulnerabilities as they are reported. Begin the patch management process again. The Role of MBSA in Patch Management.
The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is a tool that is designed for two purposes: first, to scan a computer against vulnerable configurations; and second, to. When using the graphical user interface (GUI), specify this by unchecking the options in Figure 1 and only choosing Check for security updates. Figure 1. MBSA scan options. When using the command line interface (Mbsacli. Mbsacli. exe /n OS+IIS+SQL+PASSWORD. The option /n specifies the checks to skip.
The selection (OS+IIS+SQL+PASSWORD) skips the checks for vulnerabilities and weak passwords. For more details about using MBSA, including the security configuration scan, see. Regularly test backups as well as your backup process. Discovering that your backup process is broken during restoration can be devastating.
Before You Begin. This section provides information about downloads and documentation that are needed before you walk through the steps in this How To. Tools You Will Need. You need the following tools in order to be able to perform the steps in this How To. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)Download MBSA from the MBSA Home Page: http: //www. Tools/mbsahome. asp. Latest Mssecure. cab.
By default, MBSA downloads the latest update list (Mssecure. Microsoft. com. If you do not have Internet access from the computer running MBSA, you must download the file and copy it to the MBSA installation directory. You can download the update file from: http: //technet. Microsoft Software Update Service (SUS)Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS) Server 1. Service Pack 1 (SP1) enables administrators to deploy critical updates to Windows 2.
Windows XP, and Windows Server 2. You can download it from: .
You can use MBSA in two modes; GUI and command line. Both modes are used to scan single or multiple computers. The command line can be scripted to run on a schedule. Note. To verify adequate access and privilege, use the command net use \\computername\c$ where computername is the network name of a machine which you are going to scan for missing patches.
Resolve any issues accessing the administrative share before using MBSA to scan the remote computer. To manually detect missing updates using the MBSA graphical interface. Run MBSA by double- clicking the desktop icon or by selecting it from the Programs.
MBSA defaults to the local computer. To scan multiple computers, select Scan more than one computer and select either a range of computers to scan or an IP address range. Clear all check boxes except Check for security updates. This option detects uninstalled patches and updates.
Click Start scan. Your server is now analyzed.
When the scan is complete, MBSA. A dialog box displays the Microsoft security bulletin reference number. Click the reference to find out more about the bulletin and to download the update. For example. mbsacli /c domain\machinename /n OS+IIS+SQL+PASSWORD. You can also specify a range of computers by using the /r option. For example. mbsacli /r 1. OS+IIS+SQL+PASSWORD.
Finally, you can scan a domain by using the /d option. For example. mbsacli /d Name. Of. My. Domain /n OS+IIS+SQL+PASSWORD. To analyze the generated report. Run MBSA by double- clicking the desktop icon or by selecting it from the Programs. Individual reports are sorted by the timestamp of the report. As previously described, the advantage of the command line method is that it may be.
This schedule is determined by the exposure of. To view the list of missing patches, click the associated Result details link.
The results of a security update scan might show two types of issues. Missing patches. Patch cannot be confirmed. Both types include links to the relevant Hotfix and security bulletin pages that provide details about the patch together with download instructions. Missing patches are indicated by a red cross. An example is shown in Figure 3. Figure 3. Missing patch indication. When a patch cannot be confirmed, it is indicated by a blue asterisk.
This occurs when your system has a file that is newer than the file provided with a security bulletin. This might occur if you install a new version of a product that updates a. This may include installing a patch or making configuration changes.
For more information on patches that cannot be verified by MBSA, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article, 3. Microsoft Security Bulletins provide technical details to help you determine the level of threat the vulnerability poses to your systems. The details from security bulletins that help you assess the risk of attack are. Technical details of requirements an attacker needs to exploit the vulnerability addressed by the bulletin. For example, an attack may require physical access or the user must open a malicious email attachment. Mitigating factors that you need to compare against your security policy to determine your level of exposure to the vulnerability. It may be that your security policy mitigates the need to apply a patch.
For example, if you do not have the Indexing Service running on your server, you do not need to install patches to address vulnerabilities in the service. Severity rating that assists in determining priority. The severity rating is based on multiple factors including the role of the machines that may be vulnerable, and the level of exposure to the vulnerability. Patches rated critical should be applied as soon as possible. Acquiring. There are several ways you can obtain patches, including. Using MBSA report details. MBSA links to the security bulletin that contains the patch, or instructions about obtaining the patch.
You can use the link to download the patch and save it on your local network. You can then apply the patch to multiple computers. Windows Update. With a list of the updates you want to install, use Internet.
Then select the required updates for installation. The updates are installed from the site and cannot be downloaded for. Windows Update requires that an Active. X control is installed on the server (you will be prompted when you visit the site if the control is not found.) This method works well for standalone workstations or where a small number of servers are involved. Hot. Fix & Security Bulletin Search. MBSA includes the Microsoft Knowledge Base article ID of the corresponding article for a given security bulletin.
You can use the article ID at the Hot. Fix and Security Bulletin Search site to reach the matching security bulletin.
The search page is located at http: //www. The bulletin contains the details to acquire the patch. Testing. If the results of your assessment determine that a patch must be installed, you should test that patch against your system to ensure that no breaking changes are introduced or, if a breaking change is expected, how to work around the change. Methods for Testing Security Patches. Methods used to test the installation of security patches against your systems include. Testing security patches against a test mirror of your live server configuration and scenario. This method allows you to both test the installation offline, without disrupting service, and the freedom to test workarounds if a breaking change is introduced, again without disrupting service.
Testing the patch on a few select production systems prior to fully deploying the update. If a test network that matches your live configuration is not available, this is the safest method to introduce the security patch. If this method is employed, you must perform a backup prior to installing the update. Confirming the Installation of a Patch. Before deploying a patch to production servers, confirm that the tested patch has made the appropriate changes on the test servers.
Each security bulletin includes the information you need to confirm that the patch has been installed.