Today's Security Fix

Microsoft to release critical Windows fixes next Tuesday

Microsoft on Thursday issued advance notification of six security bulletins – three of which are Windows updates deemed critical – that will be released on July 14.

Critical is the highest ranking that Microsoft gives security updates. The three other updates are classified as important, which is the second-highest ranking, and affect Publisher, Internet Security and Acceleration Server, and Virtual PC and Virtual Server.

According to a Thursday post on the Microsoft Security Response Center, one of the Windows updates will address a vulnerability in the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control. This vulnerability could give an attacker the same user rights as the PC’s owner, allowing for remote code execution.  Because code execution in Internet Explorer is done remotely, and therefore doesn’t require user intervention, an attacker could exploit the vulnerability to deploy malware on the unsuspecting user’s PC.

Microsoft on Monday recommended that Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users remove support for the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control.

Another of the Windows critical updates is designed to address vulnerability in Microsoft’s multimedia framework and API called DirectShow, part of DirectX that could allow for remote code execution if a user opened a certain QuickTime media file. Remote execution of code means that an attacker could exploit the vulnerability to deploy malware on the unsuspecting user’s PC.

The blog post says Microsoft is aware of some active attacks that leverage this vulnerability, and is therefore working on an update to patch it.

Microsoft will host a webcast on Wednesday July 15 at 11am Pacific Time to answer customer questions regarding the bulletins.

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