HP has fixed flaws in a patch-management program bundled with its computers, printers and other hardware that could be used by hackers to 'brick' HP or Compaq PCs. In an alert sent to customers who subscribe to its security warning service, HP said users should run Software Update to patch the flaws disclosed last week by a Polish researcher known only by his alias, 'porkythepig'. A pair of bugs in the update service's ActiveX control can be used to execute remote code or gain additional access rights, porkythepig said then. He also posted proof-of-concept exploit code that showed how to use one of the vulnerabilities to overwrite and corrupt crucial Windows' system files, an attack that would leave any affected PC unbootable. That would essentially 'brick' the system, since many HP and Compaq PCs do not include a restore CD or DVD, but instead place operating system and application restore files on the hard drive. HP's advisory on Friday instructed users to run Software Update on any machine that has the application, even if the update service is never used. Running Update presumably disables the flawed ActiveX control by fixing the Windows registry.