Microsoft quashes 21 bugs, blocks drive-by attacks
Microsoft today issued nine security updates that patched 21 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office, .Net, Silverlight and SharePoint Server, including several critical bugs that can be exploited with drive-by attacks.
Four of the nine updates were labeled "critical," Microsoft's highest threat ranking; the others were marked "important." Of the 21 total vulnerabilities, Microsoft classified six as critical, 14 as important and one as "moderate," a step below important on the company's four-step rating system.
MS12-010 , which included fixes for four vulnerabilities in Ie, and MS12-013 , a one-patch update to Windows Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2, were unanimously selected by both Microsoft and independent security researchers as the two to deploy immediately. Those two should need no prompting to reach the top of the patch list, said Jason Miller, VMware's manager of research and development. "Browsers and media files are the most sought-after for attackers because the audience is the biggest user base they can hit," said Miller.
