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Update Available to Revoke Fraudulent Microsoft Certificates Issued by VeriSign

Article ID: 293811 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q293811

SUMMARY

In March, 2001, VeriSign, Inc. announced that it had issued two digital certificates to an individual who fraudulently claimed to be a Microsoft employee. This issue is discussed at length in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS01-017

(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms01-017.mspx)

. VeriSign has revoked these certificates, and they are listed in the current VeriSign Certificate Revocation List (CRL). However, because the VeriSign code-signing certificates do not specify a CRL Distribution Point (CDP), it is not possible for any browser's CRL-checking mechanism to locate and use the VeriSign CRL. Microsoft has developed an update that rectifies this problem. The update package includes a CRL that contains the two certificates, and an installable revocation handler that consults the CRL on the local computer, rather than attempting to use the CDP mechanism.

Important Notes

If you upgrade or reinstall any version of Internet Explorer or Windows, you must reinstall this update. You also must reinstall this update if you install any IEAK package, including a Single disk branding.

NOTE:You do not need to reinstall this update if you upgrade to Windows XP, Windows 2000 SP2, or Internet Explorer 6.
If you choose to use a local copy of the VeriSign CRL manually rather than the CRL that is supplied with the update, be aware that the full VeriSign CRL is short-lived and must be refreshed weekly.
If you manually install the full VeriSign CRL before you install this update, you should install a new version of the CRL afterwards.

For additional information about this issue, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293818

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293818/EN-US/ )

Erroneous VeriSign-Issued Digital Certificates Pose Spoofing Hazard

For additional information about how to recognize these fraudulent certificates, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293817

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293817/EN-US/ )

How to Recognize Erroneously-Issued VeriSign Code-Signing Certificates

For additional information about how to revoke these certificates' trusted status, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293816

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293816/EN-US/ )

How to Determine Whether You Have Accepted Trust for Fraudulent VeriSign-Issued Certificates

For additional information about how to remove VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers CA from the trusted store, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293819

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293819/EN-US/ )

How to Remove a Root Certificate from the Trusted Root Store

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MORE INFORMATION

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Download Crlupd.exe now

(http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=43FD979A-03C1-4008-B38D-70E9BCD67454&displaylang=en)

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/EN-US/ )

How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help to prevent any unauthorized changes to the file. This update has been tested on the following operating systems with Internet Explorer 4.01 Service Pack 2, Internet Explorer 5.01 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, and Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1:

Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 98 Second Edition
Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP4, SP5, or SP6a
Windows NT 4.0 Server and Server, Enterprise Edition, SP4, SP5, or SP6a
Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition, SP4, SP5, or SP6
Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server, or Datacenter Server (released version or SP1)

NOTE: Although you can install this update on any version of Internet Explorer, it has been tested only in conjunction with the versions that are listed above. The update does not function if you are using a version of Internet Explorer earlier than Internet Explorer 4.0. Microsoft strongly recommends that you upgrade to Internet Explorer 5 or later before you install this update.

To obtain the latest version of Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie

(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie)

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