Microsoft has detailed next week's Patch Tuesday in a post at the Microsoft Security Response Center. This time around, Redmond will issue six security bulletins – far less than last month's record breaking 13 bulletins. Three of the six bulletins listed are rated critical – the highest severity – while the other three are marked as important. Five of the bulletins are said to allow remote code execution, and at least four will require a restart.
Affected software includes Windows 2000, as well as 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, and Server 2008. Windows 7 isn't named, but one of the updates applies to Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft Office XP, 2003, 2007, Office 2004 and 2008, as well as Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, Office Excel Viewer 2003, Office Word Viewer 2003, and the Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats are also affected.
In addition to the mentioned security patches, Microsoft will also release one or more non-security, high-priority updates, on Windows Update and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), along with a new version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. The company will host a webcast to address customer questions about the coming fixes on November 10 at 11AM PST.