Microsoft ended 2011 with a late out-of-band patch that took the total number of security bulletins in the year to 100. If the first Patch Tuesday of 2012 is anything to go by, the software giant may not have too much trouble going past last year’s patch tally. The year’s first Patch Tuesday delivered seven vulnerabilities, one more than the last three January Patch Tuesdays combined.
Yesterday was no ordinary Tuesday. It was Microsoft’s eleventh Patch Tuesday of 2011. In keeping with Microsoft’s practice of releasing a lower volume of patches during odd-numbered months as compared to even ones, this month’s Patch Tuesday only contains four security bulletins, which is half of what the company shipped in October.
We're already nearing the halfway point of October, and that means another Patch Tuesday. To help prepare for tomorrow's deluge of updates, Microsoft has issued its Advanced Notification for this month, which lays out eight security bulletins outlining 23 security holes across a range of software, including Windows 7/Vista/XP/Server and others.
Microsoft routinely issues advance notifications for its monthly Patch Tuesday update days before it goes live, that's not unusual. But the Redmond software outfit typically doesn't reveal the full extent of the patches through official "bulletins" until the day of release, which makes the weekend leak highly unusual.
As it does on the second Tuesday of each month, Microsoft today delivered this month’s installment of security updates. June’s edition of Patch Tuesday only includes four security bulletins, which is significantly less compared to last month’s consignment of 16 security bulletins. Between them, the security bulletins released today address 22 vulnerabilities.
Microsoft today posted an advance notification of a pair of security bulletins to be released on Patch Tuesday next week, including a "Critical" one that affects Windows and an "Important" one that affects Office. Windows Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, office 2003, Office 2007, Office 2004 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac are all affected by the bulletins, Microsoft said.
Patch Tuesday is again just around the corner, and while it contains some important updates for both Windows and Office, it's a fairly small update compared to last month when Microsoft patched 22 security holes. This time around that number's been reduced to just four, which have been rolled into three security security bulletins. Only one of those is rated as "Critical" while the other two are rated "Important." That doesn't mean you should take them lightly, however.Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
We introduce Intel's latest class of tablet killers and review 4 of the first Ultra...
Where have all the memorable videogame enemies gone?
This month's issue
Feature
11 Hardware Hacks
Feature
Overclock Your CPU
How-To
Supercharge Your Smartphone
Build It
A Powerful $830 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Micron: DRAM Prices Likely as Low as They're Going to Get http://t.co/fFUWuFOm32 min 35 sec ago
- maximumpc: Yar, Mateys! All Of Pirate Bay Made Available As A Single 90MB Zip File http://t.co/j5LHlXEZ1 hour 46 min ago
- maximumpc: Blizzard Newstravaganza: Diablo III Gets Release Window, Blizz Sues Valve over DOTA http://t.co/79gkeH7p3 hours 40 min ago
