Operating System Vulnerabilities
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def
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weaknesses in an operating system itself — a very large attack target, since virtually everyone runs one, and modern OSes are remarkably complex (millions of lines of code, meaning more opportunities for security issues already present, just not yet found)
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best practices
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always update (monthly or on-demand — it's a race between defenders and attackers); may require testing before deployment, since a patch could break something else; may require a reboot; always have a fallback/backup plan
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example
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"Patch Tuesday" — Microsoft's regular monthly update cycle (2nd Tuesday of the month); a single month (May 2023) included nearly 50 security patches spanning elevation of privilege, security feature bypass, remote code execution, information disclosure, denial of service, and spoofing vulnerabilities
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related