Six Security Updates Readied By Microsoft For July Patch Tuesday

Get ready for a barrage of bulletins in this month's round of Microsoft Patch Tuesday updates.

Redmond is issuing six new bulletins to bolster Windows computer systems' security. The July updates, which will be available on 8 July, will feature two critical, three important and one moderate bulletin. 

With 106 security bulletins in 2013, the average has previously been just under nine security bulletins per month. It seems this month's Patch Tuesday, then, is one of the mildest we've seen - but it's still enough to keep IT admins busy.

The first and second bulletins are the ones rated as critical, and both affect Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows RT and RT 8.1, and Windows 8 and 8.1. The two patches will resolve remote code execution vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system, while bulletin one will also address the same type of issue in Internet Explorer. Coincidentally, Windows Server 2003 to 2012 are also affected by bulletin one, with bulletin two affecting only Windows Server 2008-2012.

The third, fourth and fifth patches have all been stamped with an "important" rating, and are cetred on the elevation of privilege issues.

Bulletin three applies to Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows RT and RT 8.1, as well as Windows Server 2008 to 2012. Bulletin four addresses vulnerabilities in all current Windows and Windows Server operating systems. Bulletin five, meanwhile, affects Windows 7 to 8, but not RT 8 or 8.1, and Windows Server 2008 to 2012. Finally, bulletin six, rated moderate, fixes denial-of-service vulnerabilities, but is only applicable to Microsoft Server software.

All of this month's vulnerabilities have not yet been exploited by hackers, but once the bulletins go live the field will be open for cyber attackers to develop exploits. Consequently, we advise Microsoft customers to install these security updates as soon as possible once they're released next Thursday.