Brace For Heavy Patch Tuesday

This Tuesday Microsoft is expected to release a record number of security bulletins that affect many versions of Windows and an assortment of applications.The Microsoft Security Bulletin Advance Notification for August 2010 warns of 14 bulletins that address 34 vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, SQL, and Silverlight.

In total there are 8 bulletins rated as Critcial, and six have the less severe rating of Important. No version of Windows goes unscathed this month as every version of Windows has at least 1 critcal vulnerability. For those who have to deploy these patches in a large environment, many of these updates will require a reboot. Most versions of Office (including the Mac version) are also affected.

According to this post at the Microsoft Security Response Center, this month comprises the most bulletins published since Microsoft started the program, however the 34 vulnerabilities being fixed ties the all-time monthly record set just two months ago.