Microsoft confirms Windows Defender vulnerability. What you need to do right now.

There is (or was) a vulnerability in Windows Defender, but you don’t have to worry about it. That’s the short version.

The long version, for those interested, is that Microsoft discovered a flaw in its home antivirus software and admitted as much in an official security note, per Forbes. Microsoft’s security note included an executive summary that describes the problem in something like layman’s terms:

“Improper authentication of a directory containing sensitive information from Global Files search in Windows Defender allows an authorized attacker to expose information over the network,” the summary reads.

In other words, it was possible for someone to use this exploit to send private files over the network to people who are not intended to see them. Apparently there are no known cases of anyone using this exploit, but there were. Emphasis he did.

This is because Microsoft has closed the loop on the implementation, ensuring that users do not need to take any action to fix it themselves. Just do nothing, according to Microsoft. That’s easy enough.