There’s no real reason for SMB2, (Server Message Block 2), a Microsoft network file and print-sharing protocol that ships with Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7, to exist. All it does is duplicate the basic network file and print functionality that Windows has provided for over a decade. But, SMB2 is in there, it is broken, and, now it can be used to take over PCs.
Microsoft admits that the problem is real. Mark Wodrich and Jonathan Ness, part of the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) engineering team wrote that an experimental exploit is already out and that it can fain “complete control of the targeted system and can be launched by an unauthenticated user.” Just what you didn’t need.
There is a way to fix it. Well, sort of. You have to turn SMB2 off. You can do that the hard way, by editing the Windows’ registry, or, the easy way, by clicking on this “Fix it” link from a Vista, Server 2008, or Windows 7 PC. But, if you do, and you use SMB2 to connect to network drives or printers, you’re also going to lose the ability to use any of them. That will go over big in many businesses.