Six fixes this Patch Tuesday, but no mention of Word flaw

The software giant is issuing five other patches to correct unnamed vulnerabilities in Windows, at least one of which is labelled critical.

Some security observers were upset Microsoft did not offer a patch for the Visual Studio bug in its November release.

First warnings of active attacks that take advantage of a flawed WMI Object Broker ActiveX control, appeared early last month. Attackers who exploit the vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system, with full user rights.

Experts have said the flaw needs a prompt fix because many developers use the Visual Studio platform.

It is unclear if Microsoft will offer a fix for a dangerous, zero-day flaw that exists in a number of Word versions. The company, which warned about the flaw this week, said it was investigating reports of proof-of-concept code.

In the Patch Tuesday release, Microsoft also is scheduled to release an updated version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool on Windows Update (WU), Microsoft Update (MU), Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and the Download Center. However, the tool will not be distributed through Software Update Services (SUS).

It also plans to release 14 non-security, high-priority updates for WU, SUS, MU and WSUS.

Click here to email Dan Kaplan.

butfixesflawmicrosoftmumonpatchsecuritysixthistuesdayword