Microsoft patches 23 security holes

Microsoft has released security updates for 23 security vulnerabilities in its software.

Of the repaired vulnerabilites, 15 were rated "critical", indicating that an attacker could exploit them without any user interaction.

Further indicating the need for users to install the updates, attackers are already actively exploiting 11 of the vulnerabilities, McAfee warned on its blog. The flaws affect Outlook, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer and Windows among others.

The Powerpoint vulnerability also affects Mac users, Microsoft warned.

The critical patches include an updates for Windows, Office and Internet Explorer.

Microsoft this year is patching an increasing number of critical vulnerabilities. As McAfee pointed out, the number of critical flaws currently has surpassed the total number of patches for both 2005 and 2004.

Microsoft has previously said that it's too early to draw any conclusions on the critical vulnerability boom, arguing that it could be a temporary spike that turns out to be statistically insignificant.