Microsoft has released its monthly Patch Tuesday update including a total of 10 security bulletin, and you are required to apply the whole package of patches altogether, whether you like it or not.
That's because the company is kicking off a controversial new all-or-nothing patch model this month by packaging all security updates into a single payload, removing your ability to pick and choose which individual patches to install.
October's patch bundle includes fixes for at least 5 separate dangerous zero-day vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Edge, Windows and Office products that attackers were already exploiting in the wild before the patch release.
The patches for these zero-day flaws are included in MS16-118, MS16-119, MS16-120, MS16-121 and MS16-126. All the zero-days are being exploited in the wild, allowing attackers to execute a remote command on victim's system.
Although none of the zero-day flaws were publicly disclosed prior to Tuesday, the company was aware of attacks exploiting these flaws, said Microsoft.
Microsoft also patched twelve vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player for Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Server 2012 in MS16-127.
The patches for these zero-day flaws are included in MS16-118, MS16-119, MS16-120, MS16-121 and MS16-126. All the zero-days are being exploited in the wild, allowing attackers to execute a remote command on victim's system.
Although none of the zero-day flaws were publicly disclosed prior to Tuesday, the company was aware of attacks exploiting these flaws, said Microsoft.
Here's the list of Zero-Day Vulnerabilities:
- CVE-2016-3298: An Internet Explorer zero-day flaw is a browser information disclosure vulnerability patched in MS16-118 bulletin among 11 other vulnerabilities. It could allow attackers to "test for the presence of files on disk."
- CVE-2016-7189: A zero-day in the browser's scripting engine has been patched in Microsoft Edge bulletin, MS16-119, among others. The flaw is a remote code execution vulnerability.
- CVE-2016-3393: Another zero-day in Microsoft Windows Graphics Component has been addressed in MS16-120 that could be exploited over the web, or via an email containing malicious file or over a file-sharing app to conduct RCE attack.
- CVE-2016-7193: A single zero-day in Office has been addressed in MS16-121 bulletin. The flaw is a remote code execution vulnerability caused by the way Office handles RTF files.
- CVE-2016-3298: The last publicly attacked zero-day has been patched in MS16-126, which is the only zero-day that is not rated critical, just moderate. The flaw is an information disclosure bug affecting Vista, Windows 7 and 8 and exists in the Microsoft Internet Messaging API.
Microsoft also patched twelve vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player for Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Server 2012 in MS16-127.
Rest bulletins rated important or moderate, including MS16-123, MS16-124 and MS16-125, patches five elevation of privilege vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel-Mode, four elevation of privilege vulnerabilities in Windows Registry, and an elevation of privilege flaw in Windows Diagnostics Hub respectively.
Adobe also released a new version of Flash Player today that patched a dozen of vulnerabilities in its software, most of which were remote code execution flaws.
Adobe has also published code clean-ups for 71(!) CVE-listed security flaws in Acrobat and Reader, along with a fix for a single elevation of privilege bug in Creative Cloud.
Users are advised to apply Windows and Adobe patches to keep away hackers and cyber criminals from taking control over your computer.
A system reboot is necessary for installing updates, so admins are advised to save work on PCs where the whole package of patches is deployed before initiating the process.
Adobe Patch Update
Adobe also released a new version of Flash Player today that patched a dozen of vulnerabilities in its software, most of which were remote code execution flaws.
Adobe has also published code clean-ups for 71(!) CVE-listed security flaws in Acrobat and Reader, along with a fix for a single elevation of privilege bug in Creative Cloud.
Users are advised to apply Windows and Adobe patches to keep away hackers and cyber criminals from taking control over your computer.
A system reboot is necessary for installing updates, so admins are advised to save work on PCs where the whole package of patches is deployed before initiating the process.
