Microsoft will today release fixes for eight vulnerabilities in its software, including five to fix "critical" problems. Three of the critical patches released on this "Patch Tuesday" will be for the Windows operating system with the other two fixing problems in Office Excel and versions of Internet Explorer prior to IE8. <\/p>\n
The other three security fixes are rated "important" and "moderate" and fix problems in Windows and ISA (Internet Security and Acceleration Server). <\/p>\n
The five critical fixes are intended to fix remote code execution vulnerabilities in the affected software. The two Windows fixes repair a problem that allows for attackers to elevate their user privileges. The ISA fix, rated "moderate", fixes a Denial of Service problem. <\/p>\n
With eight fixes lined up for this Patch Tuesday, April’s update will be a lot more serious than that of March, when Microsoft issued just three security bulletins including one critical one. <\/p>\n
This Patch Tuesday doesn’t, however, include a fix for the recently discovered flaw in the Office PowerPoint application. The flaw, announced last week, can be used to allow remote code execution if a user is tricked into opening a malicious PowerPoint file. Software affected by the flaw are Office PowerPoint 2000 Service Pack 3, Office PowerPoint 2002 Service Pack 3, and Office PowerPoint 2003 Service Pack 3.<\/p>\n