Windows 10: Critical font parsing issue in Windows revealed (fix inside)

Microsoft published an advisory yesterday concerning a recently detected font parsing issue that affects all supported versions of the company's Windows operating system (including Windows 7).

The issue is rated critical, the highest severity rating. Microsoft notes that it is aware of limited targeted attacks and that it is working on a fix to close the vulnerability.

The remote code vulnerability is found in the Adobe Type Manager Library and attackers have multiple options to exploit the issue including convincing users to open a specially crafted document or viewing the document in the preview pane of File Explorer / Windows Explorer.

Two remote code execution vulnerabilities exist in Microsoft Windows when the Windows Adobe Type Manager Library improperly handles a specially-crafted multi-master font - Adobe Type 1 PostScript format.
​

A workaround has been published by Microsoft that prevents attacks targeting Windows Explorer / File Explorer. Microsoft notes that the workaround does not "prevent a local, authentication user from running a specially crafted program to exploit the vulnerability".

The workaround:

For Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2:

1. Open a Windows Explorer instance and select Organize > Layout.
2. Disable the Details pane and Preview pane options (if they are enabled. You should notice that the panes are not displayed when disabled)
3. Select Organize > Folder and search options.
4. Switch to the View tab.
5. Under Advanced Settings, check "Always show icons, never thumbnails".
6. Close all Windows Explorer instances.

For Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and 2019:

1. Open File Explorer and switch to the View tab when it opens.
2. Clear the Details and Preview pane so that these are not displayed in File Explorer anymore (if they were displayed previously).
3. Select File > Change folder and search options.
4. Check Always show icons, never thumbnails in Advanced Settings.
5. Close all File Explorer instances so that the changes can take effect.

The changes can be undone once the fix landed in Windows. Just repeat the steps outlined above but instead of clearing or checking the options, you'd do the opposite.

For systems on which the WebClient service is used, Microsoft recommends disabling the service for the time being as it blocks "the most likely remote attack vector through the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) client service".

Disabling the service will result in WebDAV requests not being transmitted. Also, any service that depends on the WebClient service will not start.

Here is how that is done:

1. Use Windows-R to bring up a Run box.
2. Type services.msc and click OK to open the Services Management window.
3. Locate WebClient in the Services listing, right-click on it and select Properties.
4. Switch the Startup type to Disabled.
5. If WebClient is running, select Stop.
6. Click ok and close the Services management interface.

Administrators who manage Windows 10 version 1703 and earlier systems, including Windows 8.1 and 7, may also disable ATMFD using the Registry.

Here is the script that you need to run:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]
"DisableATMFD"=dword:00000001

Non-ESU Windows 7 systems won't receive the security update according to Microsoft.

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Is there a way to fix font issues in Windows 10?

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Community.

This issue might have occurred due to incorrect settings.
I would suggest you to follow the below steps to change the font size in the title bar.

• 
  Type display in the search bar and press enter
  
• 
  Under “change only text size “select title bar
  
• 
  Choose the font size accordingly
  

Hope this helps in resolving the issue. If the issue persists, do get back to us. We will be happy to assist you.

Thank you.

 

Fonts

Hello,

I found these steps in this forum from back in 2010:

Step 1:

I would suggest you to try these steps and check whether it helps in fixing your issue.

Open font settings by clicking on start, click on control panel, and then click on appearance and personalization, under fonts click on change font settings. And select the font size.

Step 2:

If you’re trying to change windows font size then please follow the steps below:

To change Windows fonts

1. Open Appearance Settings by clicking the Start button and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type window color, and then click Change window colors and
metrics.

2. In the Item list, click the part of Windows that you want to change the font for. For example, if you want to change the menu font, click Menu in the list. Then, make any of the following changes:

· In the Font list, click the font that you want to use.

· In the Size list, click the font size that you want.

· In the Color list, click the font color that you want.

3. Repeat these steps for each item that you want to make changes to, and then click OK.

Does that help?

 

Bolded Font on Internet Browsers

Hi,

This issue may have been caused by a Windows 10 update that changed your font settings automatically. If you recently updated your operating system, we suggest that you follow these steps to see if the font will go back to normal:

• Type font in the search bar.
• Select Change Font settings.
• Click Restore default font settings.

Let us know the status of the issue to assist you further.