Eight Microsoft bugs to be fixed next Tuesday

Will they or won't they patch a controversial bug on Tuesday that made news last month as a big-time hacker favorite? Some security experts are saying yes -- that amongst the eight security updates Microsoft will deliver next week (six of them marked "critical,") will be a patch for a Windows Server 2008 vulnerability reported in April.

To be fair, that bug in Windows Server 2008 has had a sketchy history. It was found by Argentinean security researcher Cesar Cerrudo, reports Computerworld. The researcher at first called the bug a design flaw. But after he presented his findings at a security conference Microsoft issued Advisory 951306. In October, Cerrudo posted a proof-of-concept exploit for the months-old vulnerability. The bug allows an attacker to control Windows by running code under any service in Windows Server 2003. Researchers say that the Patch Tuesday bulletin Microsoft marked 'Windows 1' looks like a fix.

All told, two of the eight updates will patch Windows, another two are aimed at Office, while the remaining four target Internet Explorer (IE), SharePoint, Windows Media Player, and Visual Basic and Visual Studio, Microsoft said Thursday in its monthly advance warning of what to expect next Tuesday.

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