Microsoft May 09 Patch Tuesday: One Security Bulletin
Next week, on the 12th of May, the current year, Microsoft will issue an update for its Windows-based operating system as part of the Patch Tuesday program. On this second Tuesday of May, the Redmond-based software giant will address just one security bulletin affecting the Microsoft Office PowerPoint application. The PowerPoint vulnerability affects the following platforms: Microsoft Office 2000, 2003, 2007 and XP, as well as PowerPoint Viewer and Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 file formats.
Microsoft will also release an update for the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, just as they’ve always done, and an additional non-security, but high priority update.
“We are letting customers know that next week we will be releasing one security bulletin affecting Microsoft Office PowerPoint with an aggregate severity rating of critical. Customers should review the Advance Notification and prepare appropriately for deployment. The update should not require a restart unless the updated files are in use at the time they are installed. Customers can also detect systems requiring the update using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. Note that since this is an Office related update, it will not be available via Windows Update but will be available through the Microsoft Update service,” Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) team member, Jerry Bryant.
Just as a little reminder, a security vulnerability is given a critical rating if its exploitation allows in the propagation of an internet worm. The user is of course unaware of this, especially since action on his behalf is not required. It must also be said that Microsoft has been aware of the PowerPoint vulnerability since April, but at the time the company said it is only aware of "limited and targeted attacks".
The Advance Notification that Microsoft issued can be viewed here; additional details about the PowerPoint critical security vulnerability are available here. As always, you are advised to keep your operating system and the software installed on said operating system up-to-date and stay safe and protected.
Microsoft will also release an update for the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, just as they’ve always done, and an additional non-security, but high priority update.
“We are letting customers know that next week we will be releasing one security bulletin affecting Microsoft Office PowerPoint with an aggregate severity rating of critical. Customers should review the Advance Notification and prepare appropriately for deployment. The update should not require a restart unless the updated files are in use at the time they are installed. Customers can also detect systems requiring the update using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer. Note that since this is an Office related update, it will not be available via Windows Update but will be available through the Microsoft Update service,” Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) team member, Jerry Bryant.
Just as a little reminder, a security vulnerability is given a critical rating if its exploitation allows in the propagation of an internet worm. The user is of course unaware of this, especially since action on his behalf is not required. It must also be said that Microsoft has been aware of the PowerPoint vulnerability since April, but at the time the company said it is only aware of "limited and targeted attacks".
The Advance Notification that Microsoft issued can be viewed here; additional details about the PowerPoint critical security vulnerability are available here. As always, you are advised to keep your operating system and the software installed on said operating system up-to-date and stay safe and protected.
