Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday, April 9 To Bring 9 Security Updates, 2 Are Critical

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, April 07, 2013, 08:03 PM EDT

This coming Tuesday, April 9, is going to be a busy one for Microsoft’s update servers. In advance of what have become known as “Patch Tuesday”, Microsoft posted nine early security bulletins to notify users and system administrators of the slew of impending Windows updates. Two of the patches have been deemed critical, while the remaining seven are flagged as important. And all of the updates are likely to require a restart.

The exact details of the two critical updates are not posted just yet, but one of them affects Windows and Internet Explorer; the other is solely a Windows update.

Though the details aren’t posted, critical updates are usually deemed as such because they could allow for remote code execution. Microsoft specifically says critical updates solve “A vulnerability whose exploitation could allow code execution without user interaction. These scenarios include self-propagating malware (e.g. network worms), or unavoidable common use scenarios where code execution occurs without warnings or prompts. This could mean browsing to a web page or opening email. Microsoft recommends that customers apply Critical updates immediately.”

In total, the upcoming updates will affect the Windows Operating Systems and OS Components, Office Suites and companion software, Microsoft Server Software, Office Web Apps, and Microsoft Security Software. If you’d like to take a look at the advance notification for yourself, Microsoft’s got it posted here.

Tags: Microsoft, Update, security, Patch, Windows, office, vulnerability, NASDAQ: MSFT

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com