Microsoft patches almost a dozen vulnerabilities

Microsoft has released a flurry of security updates to fix several critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player and Adobe Flash Player. Exploit code for some of the vulnerabilities had already been released to the Internet. The code could have crashed or allowed hackers to take control of vulnerable computers.

The patches come as part of Microsoft's "Patch Tuesday" where security updates hit on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Three vulnerabilities were fixed in Internet Explorer while two flaws were repaired in Windows Media Player.

Yet another patch fixed vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Adobe/Macromedia's Flash player. Adobe had issued its own fix a few months ago. While Patch Tuesday included almost a dozen fixes, Microsoft has yet to release any patches for the extremely critical Microsoft Word security hole that we reported about last week.

Windows users can update their operating system by going to Windows Update on their Start Menu. The updates do require a reboot after installation. You can find more information about the patches at Microsoft's website.