Microsoft, Adobe prepare April patches

Microsoft and Adobe this week will issue patches to address critical flaws in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.

According to Microsoft's advance notification, it will issue six patches for 11 vulnerabilities as part of its April security update, scheduled for release today.

Four of the six fixes earned the software giant's highest severity rating of "critical" and address flaws in Windows; Internet Explorer -- including version 9; Office; SQL Server; and server software and developer tools, according to this month's advance notification.

Three of critical patches plug holes for Windows 7, Microsoft latest platform release. The remaining two patches, deemed "important", fix holes in the Forefront United Access Gateway product, as well as Office.

Meanwhile, Adobe will fix critical security flaws in its Reader and Acrobat software for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems.

Adobe's scheduled, quarterly update is due to arrive on Tuesday, to coincide with Microsoft's patch batch.

This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com