is it safe to permanently allow internet access to 'svchost.exe' (in windows xp) in my laptop's firewall?

Question

the details of this file as given by my firewall (zonelabs zonealarm) are
-C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
-Generic Host Process for Win32 Services
-5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)

i have noticed that whenever i want to connect to internet, this file must be allowed access to be able to establish a connection. but i fear that if i allow complete access to internet by this file (so that firewall won't alert me when this file tries to access internet) any vulnerability in this file may compromise security of my computer

Answer 1

svchost.exe is the Windows Service Host. Any Windows services that need to access the internet will do so through svchost.exe. Hence why if you open the Task Manager, you may see more than one service host because multiple Windows services use the internet.

Answer 2

You have to allow that file to access the internet. It is part of windows. It is safe to give it full access.