Detection and deployment guidance for the December 13, 2005 security release

This article contains detection and deployment guidance for the security release that is dated December 13, 2005.

Detection and deployment

Environments that detect and that deploy security updates by using Windows Update, Microsoft Update, and Office Update

All updates that released on December 13, 2005 are available through the following Web sites:

• Microsoft Windows Update
• Microsoft Update

The rereleased 904706 update has more detailed detection and deployment requirements. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Environments that detect security updates by using MBSA version 1.2.1 or MBSA version 2.0

If you use version 1.2.1 or version 2.0 of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) to detect and to deploy security updates, you can detect all the security updates that released on December 13, 2005. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Environments that detect and that deploy security updates by using Software Update Services or Windows Server Update Services

If you use Software Update Services (SUS) or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to detect and to deploy security updates, you can detect all the security updates that released on December 13, 2005. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Environments that detect and that deploy security updates by using SMS with the Software Update Services Feature Pack and with the Extended Security Update Inventory Tool

If you use Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) with the Security Update Inventory Tool (SUIT) or the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU) to detect and to deploy security updates, you can detect the security update that was released on December 13, 2005.

Some of the security updates may only be fully detected if you use the latest cumulative Extended Security Update Inventory Tool. To obtain this tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Summary of detection and deployment guidance

The following table summarizes the detection and deployment guidance for each new security update.

Rereleased security updates

The following table summarizes the detection and deployment guidance for each rereleased security update.

Reasons for rerelease

Sometimes, when the Security Update for DirectX 7.0 for Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 package is manually installed on a computer that has Microsoft DirectX 8 or Microsoft DirectX 9 installed, the installation finishes without indicating that the computer was not updated. Microsoft has also been made aware that when the Security Update for DirectX 8.1 for Windows XP Service Pack 1 package or the Security Update for DirectX 8.1 for Windows Server 2003 package is manually installed on a computer that has DirectX 9 installed, the installation finishes without indicating that the computer was not updated. Users who run DirectX 8 or DirectX 9 are still vulnerable to the issue that is discussed in security bulletin MS05-050 until they apply the appropriate packages for their DirectX versions. Therefore, Microsoft is rereleasing the 904706 security update. This rerelease does not change the detection and deployment guidance for this update.

Frequently asked questions

Q1: What is Microsoft doing to provide guidance about how to deploy these updates?

A1: Microsoft encourages system administrators to join the monthly technical webcast to learn more about security updates. The webcast for this security update airs on December 14th, 2005 at 11:00 A.M. Pacific Time. To register, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Q2: Is the Enterprise Update Scan Tool cumulative, as the Extended Security Update Inventory Tool is for SMS?

A2: No, the Enterprise Update Scan tool is not cumulative. There are no plans to make the Enterprise Update Scan tool cumulative.

Q3: Can I use the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) tool to determine whether these updates are required?

A3: Yes, you can use MBSA 1.2.1 and MBSA 2.0 to fully determine whether you require the following security updates that released on December 13, 2005. For more information about the programs that MBSA currently does not detect, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If you installed a program that is listed in the "Affected software" section of a security bulletin that is mentioned in the related article, you may have to manually determine whether you must install the required security update. For more information about MBSA, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Q4: Which security updates require that I use the Enterprise Update Scan Tool together with MBSA to identify vulnerable systems on my network?

A4:There is no Enterprise Update Scan Tool for these security updates. MBSA fully detects both security updates.

Q5: Can I use Systems Management Server (SMS) to determine whether the updates are required?

A5: Yes. SMS helps detect and deploy this security update.

SMS uses MBSA for detection. Therefore, SMS does not detect the programs that MBSA does not detect. For more information about SMS, visit the following Microsoft Web site:The Security Update Inventory Tool and the Extended Security Update Inventory Tool are required to detect all the security updates on Microsoft Windows and on other affected Microsoft products.

For more information about the limitations of the Security Update Inventory Tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: SMS also uses the Microsoft Office Inventory Tool to detect the required security updates for Microsoft Office programs such as Microsoft Word.