The one vulnerability addressed in July’s roundup that didn’t earn a critical rating - an “important” flaw in the way Microsoft Outlook handles attachments - probably should have, at least according to security vendor Symantec Corp. ET: I stand corrected on this - it looks like Microsoft won’t offer the patch for this flaw if you’ve already used the FixIt tool.

Microsoft released an interim “FixIt” tool last month to help users blunt the threat from this flaw, and users who applied that fix still should install this patch (and no, you don’t need to undo the FixIt setting first). Chief among them is a bug in the Help and Support Center on Windows XP and Server 2003 systems that’s currently being exploited by crooks to break into vulnerable machines. Today also marks the planned end-of-life deadline for Windows XP Service Pack 2, a bundle of security updates and features that Microsoft first released in 2004.įour out of five of the flaws fixed in today’s patch batch earned a “critical” rating, Redmond’s most severe. Microsoft today released software updates to fix at least five security vulnerabilities in computers running its Windows operating system and Office applications.

Xp service pack 2