Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/09/13/microsoft_reissues_september_patches_after_user_complaints/

Microsoft reissues September patches after user complaints

A fix to fix the fixes that didn't

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco

Posted in Security, 13th September 2013 23:49 GMT

Problems with Microsoft's last round of operating system and application patches have forced the company to reissue part of the update on Friday.

"Since the shipment of the September 2013 Security Bulletin Release, we have received reports of updates being offered for installation multiple times, or certain cases where updates were not offered via Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)," said Redmond's Office team in a blog post.

"We have investigated the issue, established the cause, and we have released new updates that will cease the unnecessary re-targeting of the updates or the correct offering of these updates."

Register readers – and many other Microsoft users – started complaining about the patches shortly after their release on Tuesday. Some readers reported detection issues that left servers stuck in a loop of patching when the updates weren't recognized, while others reported being unable to install flaw fixes.

Eight patches have now been reissued, covering security flaws in Excel, SharePoint Server, and Office suites going back to 2007. Two non-security patches for PowerPoint have also been reissued.

Unusually for Microsoft, not all the patches it promised for Patch Tuesday were in the final release, with one being pulled for quality-control issues. El Reg suspects there have been some harsh exchanges between management and the software testing teams at Redmond. ®