Microsoft Preps 9 Security Bulletins for Patch Tuesday Update

August 2012 Patch Tuesday Fixes To Include Patches for Internet Explorer and Windows

Microsoft is planning to release nine security bulletins next week as part of Patch Tuesday – more than half of which are rated critical.

The five critical bulletins touch a number of products, such as Windows, Internet Explorer, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange. Other products affected by the critical bulletins include: Microsoft SQL Server, Server Software and Developer Tools.

The Exchange bulletin will patch an issue Microsoft warned about in late July regarding vulnerabilities in the way files are parsed by Oracle Outside In libraries. The issue affects Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2010 and FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint. In the case of Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010, it is possible under certain circumstances for an attacker to use the vulnerabilities to take control of the server process that is parsing a specially-crafted file. An attacker could then install programs or take any other action the server process has access to, Microsoft has warned.

“This month’s patches look like a hacker’s playground,’ said Alex Horan, senior product manager, CORE Security. “All but one of the bulletins are remote code execution and five are critical. This is intriguing for both the good and the bad guys.”

Bulletin one, he added, is a critical remote code execution and appears to target all current Windows desktop and server versions. It also involves Internet Explorer, he noted, adding that he expects “a lot of attention to be paid to this vulnerability” when its details are revealed.

“Bulletin three has some interest as it appears to be a network based vulnerability but it is only critical in XP, 2003, so while I would look into it, my first priority would be Bulletin one,” Horan said.

The other four bulletins address issues in Windows and Office.

The Patch Tuesday update is scheduled to be released Aug. 14.