Microsoft has fixed 23 vulnerabilities in its Windows OS
and Office productivity suite with 12 security patches, nine of
them described as “critical” by the company.
Released as part of its monthly scheduled patching cycle, the
patches address 20 flaws in Windows and three in Office.
The vulnerabilities tackled include a well publicised security
fault in the PowerPoint presentation application, which is already
being exploited in the wild.
In addition, there are threats just discovered by Microsoft
which the company has acted upon before being publicised by
security researchers.
Internet security software provider McAfee said the number of
threats patched was the highest number yet since Microsoft started
its monthly patching programme.
McAfee said 11 of the flaws were already publicised before
Microsoft issued a patch for them yesterday.
Of particular concern to Microsoft is security bulletin
MS06-040, which is a hole in Windows which allows remote attackers
to take over users’ PCs using Windows file sharing technology.
The company says this flaw is already being used to attack
users’ systems.
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