Topic: Microsoft lines up seven critical patches for August

[Clive]

The August edition of Microsoft’s monthly patching exercise will see seven critical and five important security fixes released, much busier than July’s Patch Tuesday.

Of the seven critical patches to be released today, all involve remote code executions. There will be patches for Internet Explorer, Media Player and various versions of Windows (2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003), as well as four for the Office suite, including fixes for Access, Excel and PowerPoint.

The five fixes rated as ‘important’ involve either remote code execution or information disclosure. The patches are for Word, Messenger, Outlook Express and Windows.

Microsoft will also be releasing an upgrade to its Windows Malicious Software Removal tool.

Last week, the software giant said it would start sharing patches with vendors ahead of releasing them to the public, to help give them a head start in the race against malware creators.

[Simon]

Deep joy.   

[Rik]

Indeed. By now, you would have hoped that they'd got it sorted.

[chorleydave]

Seven?  Thank god I keep Updates turned off.

[GillE]

I wonder if my machine will still work on Wednesday?

[Clive]

Don't be a guinea pig for Microsoft, keep the automatic updates switched off Gill.  You can always download them manually at a later date after they have been fixed.

[GillE]

Good advice, Clive.  I've just amended my settings accordingly.