Patch Tuesday brings record number of fixes

Patch Tuesday has arrived yet again, with Microsoft releasing 10 of the updates they promised last week. Apparently, the number of fixes these patches bring is a record for Microsoft, with 26 vulnerabilities being patched. The updates, which included fixes for the OS, Office and .Net, included fourteen “critical” updates:

Tuesday's tally was impressive by any count: 6 of the 10 updates were judged critical, with the remaining split among Microsoft's other rankings: "important" (1), "moderate" (2), and "low" (3). Of the 26 disclosed vulnerabilities, 14 were labeled critical, 7 important, 2 moderate, and 3 low. Both the total vulnerabilities and the number of critical vulnerabilities set new records for Microsoft in its monthly patch process.
It's too early to tell if a “patch-for-the-patch” scenario is right around the corner, which is more likely with a greater number of fixes, but many of these problems have been in waiting for some time. Several of them, such as the PowerPoint flaw, had been previously reported on and exploited in the wild. If you aren't using automatic updates, it's definitely a good time to get yourself updated. There is still one update missing, which was likely pulled at the last minute due to compatibility issues.