Microsoft May-2012 Patch Tuesday Released

Microsoft has released 7 bulletins covering a total of 11 vulnerabilities. Eight of this month’s issues are rated ‘Critical’ and they affect Windows, .NET, Office and Silverlight. The remaining issues affect Office and Windows.

The following vulnerabilities are rated “Critical”:

MS12-029- Vulnerability in Microsoft Word Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2680352)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted RTF file. An attacker who could successfully exploit the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS12-034- Combined Security Update for Microsoft Office, Windows, .NET Framework and Silverlight (2681578)
This security update resolves 3 publicly disclosed vulnerabilities and 7 privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft Silverlight. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted document or visits a malicious webpage that embeds TrueType font files. An attacker would have no way to force users to visit a malicious website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to visit the website, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or Instant Messenger message that takes them to the attacker’s website.

MS12-035- Vulnerabilities in .NET Framework Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2693777)
This security update resolves 2 privately reported vulnerabilities in the .NET Framework. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution on a client system if a user views a specially crafted webpage using a web browser that can run XAML Browser Applications (XBAPs). Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

The following vulnerabilities are rated “Important”:

MS12-030- Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2663830)
This security update resolves 1 publicly disclosed and 5 privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office file. An attacker who could successfully exploit these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the logged-on user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS12-031- Vulnerability in Microsoft Visio Viewer 2010 Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2597981)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Visio file. An attacker who could successfully exploit the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

MS12-032- Vulnerability in TCP/IP Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2688338)
This security update resolves 1 privately reported and 1 publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The more severe of these vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to a system and runs a specially crafted application.

MS12-033- Vulnerability in Windows Partition Manager Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (2690533)
This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerability could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logs on to a system and runs a specially crafted application. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit this vulnerability.

For detailed information of all the bulletins and the corresponding vulnerabilities addressed, please visit:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-may

We recommend that users set ‘Windows Update’ mode to ‘Install updates automatically’ so that the important patches get applied automatically.

Anand Yadav