Very critical Patch Tuesday for Microsoft

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 09 August 2006 16:56

Business IT - Security

Last week, Microsoft flagged that there would be another 12 holes in its Windows and Office software to plug with patches today. It was just a matter of how many of them were critical. The news to hand is that most of the vulnerabilities were critical, which means someone could gain control of your computer without you doing anything if they exploited the vulnerabilities.

Of the ten Windows and two Office patches, seven Windows patches and both Office patches were deemed critical by Microsoft.

The two Office patches address a zero day exploit for PowerPoint, which was identified just after Patch Tuesday in July, and a vulnerability in the Visual Basic for Applications development tool.

As far as Windows is concerned, seven patches addressed holes in the Windows operating system kernel and the Windows Explorer file system user interface.

Microsoft has also issued an update to its Malicious Software Removal Tool.

An ominous warning from Microsoft advises users to implement the updates immediately because apparently hackers just can't wait to catch slow coaches out once they know where to look for holes to exploit.

The big question on the lips of many is how long before another critical zero day vulnerability is discovered and made public in Windows or Office?