Microsoft Releases Two Patches

Microsoft kicked off 2008 with two patches -- one "Critical," one "Important."

Although the release is light, security experts call the roll out an intriguing mix of both server- and client-side concerns. Redmond said the critical update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in TCP/IP processing.

The patch is designed to deflect Remote Code Execution exploits that use the multicast function for delivering information packages as an attack vector. Multicast sends network activity information to a group of destinations throughout an enterprise processing environment.