Microsoft To Issue Six Security Updates Next Week

Microsoft on Thursday said next week's Patch Tuesday release will consist of six bulletins that address a total of 15 vulnerabilities in its Windows and Office products.

According to Microsoft's Security Bulletin Advance Notification for November, four of the bulletins address vulnerabilities in Windows and three of these are rated 'critical,' the highest of Microsoft's four-level threat rating system. The two other bulletins affect Microsoft Office and are rated 'important,' the second highest threat level.

One of the Office-related bulletins is for vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Office For Mac product, while the other deals with vulnerabilities in Excel and Word, according to Microsoft.

This month's Patch Tuesday will pale in comparison to last month's record release, which fixed 34 vulnerabilities in 13 updates, 8 of which were rated critical. These included fixes for two zero-day vulnerabilities in the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol and FTP Service, which could enable hackers to launch attacks on users' PCs.

October's patch release also included a cumulative fix for Internet Explorer, fixing four security holes that could allow miscreants to lure victims to a maliciously crafted Web site, something that's usually achieved through social engineering by getting unsuspecting users to click on an email link.