Microsoft to issue seven critical patches

Microsoft plans to release 12 patches next week, including seven rated as critical for Windows, Internet Explorer and Office. In the Microsoft advance patch notice for August, the software giant said four of the seven critical updates affect Office and plug holes in Access, Excel and PowerPoint that could lead to remote code execution. Last month, Symantec said attackers were using the Neosploit toolkit to target an ActiveX control error in the Snapshot Viewer for Microsoft Access.

Five updates rated as important will fix vulnerabilities in Windows, Outlook Express, Windows Messenger and Office Word. Microsoft will release the updates Tuesday, Aug. 12 at approximately 10 a.m. Pacific Time.