Microsoft to ship critical Windows, Office patches
Next week's Patch Tuesday updates from Microsoft will include fixes for a wide range of "critical" vulnerabilities in the Windows, Office and Exchange product lines, the software giant announced today.
As part of its advance notice mechanism, Microsoft said a total of 7 bulletins will be released on May 8, 2007. Here are the barebones details.
- Two Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Windows. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical. These updates will require a restart.
- Three Microsoft Security Bulletins affecting Microsoft Office. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical. These updates may require a restart.
- One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting Microsoft Exchange. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical. These updates will not require a restart.
- One Microsoft Security Bulletin affecting CAPICOM and BizTalk. The highest Maximum Severity rating for these is Critical. These updates will not require a restart.
One of the "critical" bulletins will most certainly contain fixes for the Windows DNS RPC vulnerability that was being used in attacks by botnet herders last month.
According to FrSIRT, there are several known Microsoft Office vulnerabilities that are unpatched. The list includes two code-execution vulnerabilities, one each in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Powerpoint. The PowerPoint bug was reported to Microsoft nine months ago (July, 2006).