Microsoft patches 20 holes – none affecting Vista

Security dozen tackles ‘zero-day’ backlog…

Microsoft has released fixes for 20 vulnerabilities in a variety of products including Windows but none of the operating system flaws affect Vista.

The fixes arrived in a dozen security bulletins, released as part of Microsoft’s monthly patch cycle. Six of the alerts were tagged “critical”, the company’s most serious rating. These flaws could enable an attacker to gain complete control over a vulnerable computer with no action, or minor action, on the part of the user, Microsoft warned.

The critical vulnerabilities are in Windows, Internet Explorer, Office and in Microsoft security tools such as Windows Live OneCare and Windows Defender. None of the Windows or Office flaws affect Vista or Office 2007, Microsoft’s latest updates. However, Windows Defender ships as part of Vista, so the new operating system is at risk from that direction.

Full story: silicon.com