Microsoft August 2011 Security Bulletin Release

Microsoft released thirteen (13) bulletins addressing 22 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, .NET and Visual Studio. Two are rated Critical in severity, nine Important and two Moderate.

Below is a quotation of the description of the priority bulletins, from the MSRC Blog:

• MS11-057 (Internet Explorer). This security update resolves five privately reported vulnerabilities and two publicly disclosed vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted webpage using Internet Explorer. Microsoft is not aware of any attacks leveraging the vulnerabilities addressed in this bulletin.
  
  
• MS11-058 (DNS Server). This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Windows DNS server. The more severe of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker sends a specially crafted Naming Authority Pointer (NAPTR) query to a DNS server. Servers that do not have the DNS role enabled are not at risk.

In reviewing the Executive Summaries from the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for August 2011, most of the updates will require a restart.  Regardless of the recommendation, it is always best to restart your computer after applying updates.  If you have had problems with .NET Framework updates in the past, consider installing MS11-066 and MS11-069 separately, followed by a restart.

Support

The following additional information is provided in the Security Bulletin:

• The affected software listed have been tested to determine which versions are affected. Other versions are past their support life cycle. To determine the support life cycle for your software version, visit Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
  
• Customers in the U.S. and Canada can receive technical support from Security Support or 1-866-PCSAFETY. There is no charge for support calls that are associated with security updates. For more information about available support options, see Microsoft Help and Support.
• International customers can receive support from their local Microsoft subsidiaries. There is no charge for support that is associated with security updates. For more information about how to contact Microsoft for support issues, visit International Help and Support.

References

• MSRC: A live BlueHat Prize webcast and the August 2011 security updates
• Security Research and Defense: Assessing the risk of the August security updates
• TechNet: Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for August 2011

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