Update KB4482887 from Windows 10 released with a performance fix for the Spectrum bug

Microsoft has released the Windows 10 cumulative update KB4482887 for version 1809, which includes many fixes, including Retpoline Specter mitigation, a patch for an annoying Action Center bug, and many other fixes.

This update is available for all Windows 10 October 2018 Update (build 1809) users and can be installed through Windows Update. To install the update, simply go to settings -> Update and security -> Windows Update then check for new updates.

The following are the most important changes to the new cumulative update for Window 10.

Attenuation of Retpoline Specter v2

In January 2018, Google disclosed processor vulnerabilities called Spectrum and Meltdown that use speculative runtime channels to allow processes to access the memory of other programs to which they would not have access. normally not access. This could allow malicious programs to steal data such as decryption keys, master passwords in password management programs or sensitive emails read from another program.

Because these bugs were due to the hardware design of the processors, the processor manufacturers had to issue microcode updates that contained instructions that could be used to mitigate these vulnerabilities. When Microsoft used these new processor capabilities to release a Spectrum patch, some users, especially those using older processors, found that the patches were causing performance issues on Windows.

As explained in a new Microsoft article on retpoline, Microsoft is working on a new patch that uses a mitigation called retpoline discovered by Google, which prevents a processor from entering an "unsecured speculative execution".

"A full description of retpoline can be found here, but in summary, retpoline works by replacing all indirect calls or hops in kernel-mode binary files with an indirect branch sequence with safe speculation behavior."

While still not as fast as not using mitigation, Microsoft has stated that retolene mitigation is much faster than Microsoft's original fixes. In order to use these mitigation measures, users will need to use an AMD or Intel Broadwell processor and earlier versions.

"This is much faster than running all kernel mode code with restricted branch speculation (IBRS set to 1.) However, this build can only be used safely on processors. where the statement RET does not speculate on the basis of the contents of the indirect index, predictor branch.These processors are all AMD processors as well as Intel processors with the code name Broadwell and prior according to the white paper Intel Retpoline does not apply to Intel Skylake processors and later. "

Retpoline mitigation measures have been tested under Windows 10 Insider since version 18272 and, with this update, are now reported to version 1809. Patches will not be activated immediately, but will be released in the next few months to ensure the security of new problems. do not show up when it is used publicly.

"Over the next few months, we will enable Retpoline as part of the phased deployment through cloud-based configuration." Because of the complexity of the implementation and the changes that are being made to it, we only offer benefits in terms of terms of Retpoline performance for Windows 10, versions 1809 and later. "

Fixed an annoying Action Center bug

With this update, Microsoft has finally fixed a bug that bothered users of Windows 10 October 2018 Update for some time.

For some users, when they opened the Action Center, it appeared briefly on the left side of the screen when it was open, then returned to the right side.

This bug was originally fixed in Windows 10 Insider versions and has now been backported into Winddows 10 build 1809.

Changelog complete

The complete list of changes in this hotfix is ​​included below.

• Enables "Retpoline" for Windows on some devices, which may improve the performance of Spectrum Variant 2 mitigation solutions (CVE-2017-5715). For more information, see our blog post, "Mitigate Spectrum Variant 2 with Retpoline on Windows".
• Fixes a problem that may cause the Maintenance Center to suddenly appear on the wrong side of the screen before displaying on the right side.
• Resolves an issue that may not save some of the content that is embedded in a PDF file in Microsoft Edge. This happens if you have cleared ink quickly after the start of the ink session and then added ink.
• Resolves an issue that displays the "Unknown" media type in Server Manager for Storage Class Memory (SCM) disks.
• Fixes Remote Desktop Access Problem with Hyper-V Server 2019
• Fixes a problem that causes the new BranchCache publication to take up more space than expected.
• Resolves a performance issue when establishing a Remote Desktop connection from a Remote Desktop Web Client to Windows Server 2019.
• Resolves a reliability issue that may cause the screen to stay dark after leaving sleep mode if you close the lid of a laptop while disconnecting it from the docking station.
• Fixes a problem resulting in the failure of the file overwriting of a shared folder due to an access error denied. This problem occurs when a filter driver is installed.
• Enables support for device roles for some Bluetooth radios.
• Resolves an issue that may cause PDF print to fail during a remote desktop session. This problem occurs when trying to save the file and redirecting drives from the client system.
• Resolves a reliability issue that may cause the main screen of the notebook to flash when resuming sleep. This problem occurs if the laptop is connected to an indirect display docking station.
• Resolves an issue that displays a black screen and causes a remote desktop session response to stop when using certain VPN connections.
• Updates the time zone information for Chile.
• Resolves an issue that does not correctly register USB cameras for Windows Hello after OOBE configuration.
• Resolves an issue that prevents the Microsoft Enhanced Point and Print Compatibility Driver from installing on Windows 7 clients.
• Resolve a problem that causes Terms of use stop working when Remote Desktop is set to use a hardware encoder for advanced video encoding (AVC).
• Resolves an issue that locks a user account when you move applications on a shared platform using App-V.
• Improves the reliability of the EU-VAppmonitor.
• Resolves an issue that prevents App-V applications from starting and generates a 0xc0000225 error in the log. Set the following DWORD to customize the maximum time that the driver waits for a volume to be available: "HKLM Software Microsoft AppV MAV Configuration MaxAttachWaitTimeInMilliseconds".
• Resolves a problem with the Windows compatibility assessment of the compatibility state of the Windows ecosystem to ensure compatibility of applications and devices for all updates to Windows.
• Resolves an issue that may prevent some applications from displaying the Help (F1) window correctly.
• Fixes a problem that causes desktop and taskbar flickering on Windows Server 2019 Terminal Server after using the user profile disk configuration.
• Fixes a problem that can not update a user hive when you publish an optional package in a connection group after the previous release of the connection group.
• Improves the performance of non-case-sensitive string comparison features such as _stricmp () in the Universal C Runtime.
• Resolves a compatibility issue when analyzing and reading certain MP4 content.
• Resolves an issue with the Internet Explorer proxy setting and the OOBE configuration (ready-to-use configuration). The initial connection stops responding after Sysprep.
• Resolves an issue in which the desktop lock screen image set by a Group Policy will not be updated if the image is older or has the same name as the current one. previous picture.
• Resolves an issue in which the desktop wallpaper image set by Group Policy will not be updated if the image has the same name as the previous image.
• Fixes a problem that causes the TabTip.exe touch keyboard to stop working under certain conditions. This problem occurs when you use the keyboard in a kiosk scenario after you override the default shell.
• Fixes a problem that could cause the opening of the new Miracast login banner after closing a connection.
• Resolves an issue that could cause virtual disks to disconnect when upgrading from a 2-node S2D (Storage Space Direct) cluster from Windows Server 2016 to Windows Server 2019.
• Resolves an issue that does not recognize the first character of the Japanese name Era as an abbreviation and may cause problems analyzing the date.
• Fixes a problem that could prevent Internet Explorer from loading images with a backslash () in their relative source path.
• Resolves an issue that could cause random shutdown of applications using a Microsoft Jet database with the Microsoft Access 95 file format.
• Fixes a problem in Windows Server 2019 that causes delays in input and output queues when querying SMART Data with the help of Get-StorageReliabilityCounter ().

If you have installed earlier updates, only the new patches contained in this package will be downloaded and installed on your device.