VirusScan Enterprise 8.7i Patch 5 removed from download

[wwarren]

Hey Folks,

We are in the process of removing the links to download 8.7i Patch 5.

Reason being, a sporadic BSOD issue has been confirmed to exist in that patch (driver versions 14.1.0.680).

This issue is timing related and rare to occur, but we've seen it enough times to reconsider our assessment, and that it warrants removal of the patch from further distribution.

A solution is in progress and expected in July, after which the patch will be reposted to the web to have that fix incorporated in it - and eliminate risk for customers needing to adopt Patch 5.

For those with patch 5 already, a hotfix will be available in about the 3rd week of July.

If you have experienced a sporadic BSOD since installing Patch 5, it's advised to contact McAfee Support so we can obtain needful details for escalation. You might be encountering this issue, and we have a proof-of-concept build that has had positive feedback that could be shared with you once the issue has been confirmed. The other alternate to avoiding the issue for the interim is to remove 8.7i and reinstall it without Patch 5 (and rebooting) - for that reason, packages for Patch 4 have been made available again.

Additional information has been written up for a public facing knowledgebase article, https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB77280

[wwarren]

Correction on the link:

https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB72280

[aladdin9]

Suggestion - please add a Solution 3 to the KB article

Solution 3

For customers who want to downgrade to Patch 4

Patches cannot be uninstalled, so please uninstall VirusScan Enterprise and then reinstall VSE 8.7i with Patch 4 Repost

[wwarren]

aladdin9 wrote:
Suggestion - please add a Solution 3 to the KB article
Solution 3
For customers who want to downgrade to Patch 4
Patches cannot be uninstalled, so please uninstall VirusScan Enterprise and then reinstall VSE 8.7i with Patch 4 Repost

Yeah that can be added. But a fine point to be clear on, Patches can be uninstalled (they each have their own GUID that can be specified for MSIEXEC to remove just the patch - details contained in the readme of each patch).

Removing a patch does not downgrade the installed drivers though, and that's why patch removal alone in this case is not sufficient.

Message was edited by: wwarren on 6/30/11 3:43:24 PM CDT

[wwarren]

Just want to note for everyone that Patch 5, a revised version, is being posted to the web (should already be available actually).

It has also been posted again to the Support Service Portal.

We pulled Patch 5 in June to contend with a BSOD issue, and at that time were also contending with some malware advancements that the product needed to be able to defeat. Addressing these issues required some significant architectural changes to the "under-the-hood" workings of the product, so once we had them in place we also gave this patch a longer than usual managed release. At long last, it's here.

Quick FAQ -
1. If I have Patch 5 original, do I need this revised Patch 5?  No. But you DO need a Hotfix, it is Hotfix 643440. You should find that on the product download pages too, where we have the "Hotfix" tab... a little birdy tells me it's not up there just yet, so if you have trouble getting it or finding it our Support team can help.
2. If I have the revised Patch 5, do I need HF 643440? No.
3. How do I distinguish from Patch 5 original vs. Patch 5 revised?  The revised patch also includes the code for Hotfix 643440, as such it creates the appropriate registry value to indicate the presence of that hotfix. That value is found in HKLM\Software\McAfee\DesktopProtection. And it will report "643440" to ePO via property collection in the 'Fixes' field for each node that has it _as well as_ indicating Patch 5 is installed. The original Patch 5 would not report the Hotfix was present.
4. What difference is there between having Patch 5 original + HF 643440 and the revised Patch 5? None.

Important note about the Patch, it now warrants us giving it a Mandatory rating. It's imperative customers plan on installing this update if intending to stay on 8.7i version for a while. And if you're thinking about going to 8.8 in the near future anyway, the recommendation would be to use 8.8 Patch 1 as your baseline - that release should be out next week.

Another important note, those adopting this revised Patch _must not_ upgrade to 8.8 RTW release. Instead you would use 8.8 Patch 1 or later. This is explained in the documentation but I wanted to draw attention to it here for those who think Readme files are things to ignore .

[uroberto]

Thanks for the info.  I'll be testing patch 5 right away.  We're also testing Virusscan 8.8, but we are waiting for patch 1 to deploy. One thing that Mcafee Virusscan has not been great at is spyware/malware detection and removal. 

Message was edited by: uroberto on 10/7/11 8:54:04 AM GMT-05:00

[thertkorn]

Why ist the Hotfix 643440 still not available for download?

I opened a servcie request.... but i become no Hotfix 643440.

regards

Timo Hertkron

[jguenrdc]

HF 643440 is still nowhere to be found.  Am I missing something?

[dmcgeary]

If you need the HF you will need to contact McAfee Support

[jguenrdc]

Actually, I just got a McAfee SNS email that P5 and the HF were available, so I checked the product download area and it is there now.

Message was edited by: jguenrdc on 10/18/11 2:08:26 PM CDT