[dpwiener]

Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why anyone would want Universal Plug and Play to be enabled all the time? If its purpose is to detect and install new devices, why not just open a window when a new device is detected and ask whether it should be installed? Or else offer an option that enables UPnP during initial set-up of the machine and then turns it off, so that it is normally disable but can be enabled if the user so chooses?

Lots of people have provided advance warning about the dangers of having raw sockets in Windows XP and making that the default option. What advantages does even Microsoft see for insisting upon this "feature"?

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

What advantages does even Microsoft see for insisting upon this "feature"?

The average computer user is not a techie. They want to plug in a new printer or scanner or webcam and have it work the same way a toaster or a televison or a lamp works, without having to go down to the basememnt and reset a circuit breaker. Microsoft's error is not one of intentions, but of poor implementation. Yet, again.

[TechJunkYard]

I'm afraid you're wrong on both counts.

1. UPnP is for detecting network devices, not Plug & Play hardware in your PC.
2. This exploit has nothing to do with Raw Sockets, because the two ports involved (1900 and 5000) are greater than 1024.