Microsoft details September patch updates

Microsoft has released details of its monthly security update due on 14 September, which will include at least nine security patches for Windows and Office.

The company said in an advance notification that four of the nine planned bulletins are for vulnerabilities classified as 'critical', meaning that the flaws could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on a targeted system.

The remaining bulletins include three remote code execution patches for issues rated 'important'. Such vulnerabilities are often given a lower rating because they are harder to exploit or require user interaction to launch an attack.

Microsoft said that one of the bulletins is rated 'critical' only for Windows XP systems, carrying a rating of 'important' for later versions of the operating system.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 users will be subject to three of the bulletins, none of which carry a rating higher than 'important'.

The monthly update will also address two remote code execution vulnerabilities for Office XP, 2003 and 2007.

One of the bulletins is listed as 'important' for all three versions of the suite, while the second is rated 'critical' for Office XP and 'important' for Office 2003 and 2007.