According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft will issue 14 Security Bulletins addressing 34 vulnerabilities on Tuesday. It will also
host a webcast to address customer questions the following day.
Eight of the vulnerabilities are rated "Critical" and six are marked "Important." All of the Critical vulnerabilities earned their rating through a Remote Code Execution impact, meaning a hacker could potentially gain control of an infected machine. At least seven of the 14 patches will require (yeah!) a restart.
The list of affected operating systems includes all supported versions of Windows; almost all supported Microsoft Office suites are also vulnerable, including Office 2004 for Mac and Office 2008 for Mac. Those who have upgraded to Microsoft Office 2010 may breathe easy. Silverlight 2 and Silverlight 3 are also on the list, but the latest version, Silverlight 4, is not.
Compared to
last month's minor Patch Tuesday, this one is massive. In fact, this is the most bulletins Microsoft has ever released in one month.
