Microsoft accidentally rolls out Windows 7 test patch

Microsoft scared several Windows 7 users on Wednesday by accidentally releasing a test patch as an ‘important update’. The suspicious-looking patch was withdrawn shortly after release.

It concerned update KB3877432, a language pack with a size of 4.3MB. The description was a random string of characters, the date was outdated, and Microsoft referenced .edu, .mil, and .gov addresses for more information. On the forum of Microsoft, Reddit and via Twitter People worldwide were quick to report on the suspicious-looking patch, even after it was quickly withdrawn.

However, it turned out to be an accidentally distributed test update, Microsoft acknowledges to several American media. Microsoft does not provide more details about how it could go wrong. The chances of Windows Update being misused by criminals are low, but the consequences of problems with the update mechanism of any kind can be high.

Windows Update is not completely free from abuse either. In 2012, it was revealed that the advanced Flame Trojan could install itself by signing itself with Microsoft’s certificate, after which it could install itself on users’ systems thanks to a man-in-the-middle attack via Windows Update.