Nearly 50 vulnerabilities to be patched

Microsoft plans record ‘mega patch’ for Tuesday

Microsoft announced that it would issue a patch next Tuesday which will include a total of 16 security updates to a variety of the firm’s software products.

Addressing 49 vulnerabilities in versions of Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Share Point and Office, four of the updates are being described as ‘critical’ which means that exploits are already circulating in the wild. A further 10 are important while Microsoft called the rest ‘moderate’ in severity.

The critical updates including a cumulative patch for Internet Explorer which addresses versions 6, 7 and 8 on every supported version of Windows while another addresses the newest versions of Windows, Vista and 7 respectively. The last two critical updates also affect all supported versions of Windows.

2010 has been a particularly notable year, with 86 security bulletins having been issued to date despite the firm’s renewed focus on security since Windows Vista. However the 49 point ‘mega patch’ is Microsoft’s largest single patch ever in a record breaking year.

Microsoft isn’t the only firm being rocked by the weight of security flaws in its software, Adobe announced earlier this week a patch which would address an astonishing 25 flaws in Adobe Acrobat and Reader.

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