Microsoft Security Patches for July 2011

It is the second Tuesday of the month which means it is patch day over at Microsoft. The Redmond based company has released a total of four security bulletins that month. One bulletin has received a maximum severity rating of critical, while the three others one of important. The critical vulnerability addresses a issue in the Bluetooth stack that could allow remote code execution. Affected are only Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7, and not Windows XP or earlier operating systems.

Two of the three remaining vulnerabilities address issues in the Windows operating system as well. Security bulletin MS11-054 describes a vulnerability in Windows Kernel-Mode drivers that could allow elevation of privileges, while bulletin MS11-056 a vulnerability in the Windows Client and Server run-time subsystem.

All supported Microsoft client and server operating systems are affected by the two security vulnerabilities. The last issue is a vulnerability in Microsoft Visio.

Here is an overview of all four security bulletins with links to their pages at the Microsoft Technet website.

• MS11-053 - Vulnerability in Bluetooth Stack Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2566220)
• MS11-054 - Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2555917)
• MS11-056 - Vulnerabilities in Windows Client/Server Run-time Subsystem Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2507938)
• MS11-055 - Vulnerability in Microsoft Visio Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2560847)

The patches are as usual already available via Windows Update, Microsoft Update and via the Microsoft Download Center. The monthly exploit mitigation guide at the Technet Security blog provides additional information about the vulnerabilities and deployment strategies.

Probably the easiest way to deploy the security updates to a single system is via Windows Update.

Just click on Start > All Programs > Windows Update to open the update screen. You may need to click on Check for updates on the left sidebar if your computer has been up for some time and the updates are not displayed directly in the main window.

Have you updated your system yet? Am I the only user who feels that Microsoft's Download Center is not usable at all at the moment?

Advertisement