Microsoft slates critical IE, Windows patches for Tuesday

Microsoft today said it will ship six security updates to customers next week, patching all versions of Internet Explorer (IE) and nearly all supported editions of Windows.

The IE update, one of two classified as "critical" -- Microsoft's most serious threat ranking -- will patch IE6 on Windows Server 2003, IE7, IE8, IE9, IE10 and the newest, IE11.

It's unlikely that July's IE update will match June's in size: Microsoft fixed a record 60 flaws in the browser on June 10. (Originally, Microsoft said it had patched 59 IE bugs last month, but a week later acknowledged it had forgotten to add one to the list, and so upped the count to an even 60.)

Windows 7 users who have not freshened IE11 with a mandatory April update will not receive next week's browser fixes.

According to Thursday's advanced notice, which briefly described the July updates, the second critical bulletin will patch all client editions of Windows -- from Vista to Windows 8.1 -- and all server versions except for those running on systems powered by Intel's Itanium processors. Windows Server 2008 and Server 2012 systems provisioned by installing only the Server Core -- a minimal install with many features and services omitted to lock down the machine -- are also exempt from Bulletin 2, Microsoft said.

Of the remaining four updates, three were labeled "important" by Microsoft -- the threat step below critical -- while the fourth was pegged "moderate." All will offer patches for some or all Windows editions, both on the desktop and in the data center.

:story: Computerworld