Instead of waiting until Patch Tuesday, today Microsoft has released their patch which fixes the WMF flaw. If you haven’t heard of the WMF flaw, it’s a security hole within every version of Windows since 98 (earlier versions still have this flaw, but it can not be exploited). The flaw can be exploited by simple visiting a web page in any browser on a Windows machine. If you haven’t yet, immediately go to Windows Update and download the patch.

Now it’s important to note that Microsoft had to break its Patch Tuesday schedule to release this update. As I mentioned before, the Patch Tuesday schedule has been doomed from the start. Although this hole has only recently received press, this hole began being exploited shortly after last’s Patch Tuesday; showing that the writer of the exploit was trying to get the longest exposure time.

Now Microsoft will tell you that they are “releasing the update early in response to strong customer sentiment that the release should be made available as soon as possible.” They try to make you feel like they’re doing you a favor, but in reality this isn’t the case. Microsoft had been beat to creating a patch. What we’re they going to do, just sit and wait until this upcoming Tuesday while companies were being recommended to download the unofficial patch? No, they had to do something. I guarantee you that if it wouldn’t have been for the unofficial patch, Microsoft would have held the official patch off until Patch Tuesday while millions of their customers were vulnerable. It’s just the unofficial patch was bad press for Microsoft, considering only one person came out with a fix before Microsoft’s entire team did.

So there you have it, Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday dilemma at its best. Be prepared for this to become a regular feature for Microsoft in the coming months. Maybe Microsoft should consider a bimonthly Patch Tuesday?